Our Story
by lisserboo
Summary: Here is Annie and Finnick's story from the beginning! Rated T because I'm paranoid. :D
1. My Life and a Friend

**I finally have time to write about Finnick and Annie's story! I'm so happy! Okay here's the story for ya!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games... *sob***

**Annie's POV:**

Right now, at the age of 6, I think that the world is perfect and it works in my favor. Nothing bad could possibly go wrong. My life so far has been filled only with good memories. The ocean seems to tie it all together. Like everyone else in my district, the water helps sooth and comfort me.

At the age of 4, I learned how to swim. My daddy would give me lessons before he went to work every morning until I got it completely. Now it was just a habit for us to go out. He wakes me up in my room every day so that we can go and swim.

Another thing that happens every day is that my mom would come outside, take my hand, and wave to my daddy before he left for work. Both of us always smile widely as we hug him goodbye and kiss him on the cheek. My mom always whispers "Come on Annie" when they're out of view. We walk hand in hand back to our old house.

The house was small with 4 rooms. 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1 kitchen/living/dining room. I had the smallest of the bedrooms. It was faded green, but I loved the color still. It reminded me of my dad's eyes when he was at work.

Every morning, after daddy and I swam a little, mommy would brush my hair and put it in a braid. Sometimes, she would find little shells from the sea or some seaweed and add it to my hair and it made it smell soothing like the ocean. I liked it best with a little seaweed braided in my hair with some flowers in my dark chocolate colored hair.

Mommy would make breakfast sometimes, but about once a week she wouldn't and instead she would say that we should go and swim some more. After this, I would go to school while mommy would go to work at the hospital. She would pick me up after school and help me with homework. Then we would swim some more. Daddy would come home and join us.

That is my wonderful life right now. Nothing could make it be better than it already is.

2 years later (Annie is 8, Finnick is 11)

I wish that my life was like it was back then. Now it's a complete mess. In a couple of years, I'll be able to be in the _Hunger Games. _Then, I didn't know what was happening with them. A year ago, my family realized that I'd need to find out sooner or later so I'd better find out now. It was a lot to take in then. I didn't ever realize that thousands of kids have died because of the Capital.

I didn't really have anyone to talk to either because I'm sort of a loner. I'm really shy and I always will be. That's why I'm so afraid about the Huger Games. That and death. I would never get any sponsers because I would be too shy to show myself. I don't have any friends at school and I try to hide as much as possible. Nobody really notices me and I'm okay with that.

I look around to see if anyones around and then run out to the sea and dive into the water. _So relaxing. _I look around in the water and see a bunch a fish right below me and go down a little deeper.

None of the animals are scared of me anymore. They don't even flinch when I get near them. The fish keep on swimming and I gently stroke their scales. They still don't care. These are my only friends. The fish. It's okay though. They keep me company.

Once I get out of the water, I see someone walking on the beach. I squint and see that they are coming towards me. To avoid getting seen I dive in the water again, ignoring the figure. Instead, I look at the beautiful coral and star fish on a cave next to where I was. I saw some bubbles and assumed that it was only fish and was surprised to see that it was an actual human.

He smiled at my surprised face as I went up to get some air. The boy went up with me. He had beautiful golden locks and the greenest eyes on the planet. He looked to be 2 or 3 years older than me.

"Sorry but, who are you?" I asked him once I got enough air.

"Hi. Sorry. I'm Finnick." He said.

"Hi. I'm Annie." I reply. "Sorry again, but what do you want? I guess that that sounds a little rude but..." I trailed off awkwardly.

"I just saw you and I was lonely. Could we talk?" Finnick asked. I found this weird. Why would some random boy ask some random girl if we could talk? I ignored that thought and nodded.

"Sure... but why would you ask _me_? I'm sure that you could find somebody else." I say.

"I don't know. Why not?" Finnick said. This made sence I guess.

"Okay then. What do you want to talk about?" I ask as I make my way down to the beach and sit down on the hot sand.

"I'm not sure. How about we play a truth game? Where you ask the other a question and then the other has to answer truthfully?" He suggested.

"Sure. You start." I say.

"What was the highlight of your day?" he asked first.

"Swimming." I say in a heartbeat. He nods his head in agreement. "How big is your family?" I ask.

" I have my parents, and my younger sister, Almy." Finnick replied. "What is your favorite color?"

"Green. Sea green. If you could be in any other district, which one and why?" I ask in a whisper now.

"7 because if I ever got picked for the Hunger Games, I would know how to use a knife and an axe." Finnick whispered back. "How about you?"

"I can't imagine not being in district 4." I say. "What do your parents do? What is their job?" I ask.

"My dad is obviously a fisherman and my mom is a teacher." he answered quickly. "Are you going to answer any of the questions without mentioning the water?"

"Probably not." I say. "Why are we still whispering?" I ask him in a hushed voice.

"I have no idea." he said. Then he stopped whispering. "Do you think that I'm crazy for asking some random person if I could just talk to them without knowing if _she's_ crazy or not?" he asked.

"Not really. My only friends are the fish, so I'm sort of glad that you asked me to talk." I said as he raised his eyebrows. "Do _you _think_ I'm_ crazy since I don't have any friends?" I ask.

"No because now you have one." he replied. He smiled at me and I smiled back.

**How was that? Tell me if you think that I'm rushing anything. I know that my 6-year-old writing isn't very good. Review please!**


	2. Birthdays and Falling

**Hey guys! You get another chapter because I couldn't put up the other one! The first one I couldn't put up because the internet isn't working. You'll be lucky if you get another one today!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games. *sob***

**Annie's POV**

Once Finnick and I finished our truth game, we both went home smiling. After he was out of view, I was practically skipping. I haven't had a friend in a long, long time. It's really nice to have someone who you can trust that isn't family.

As I think of this, I wonder why Finnick couldn't have come by the beach about a year ago when both of us were lonely so that we could be friends longer. That's how much I've missed having someone be there for me.

I got home with a smile on my face as I ran to my mom and hugged her. She was surprised at first, but then she wrapped her arms around me. We stayed like that for about a minute and then I pulled apart.

"Annie, what's this about?" She asked.

"I met someone!" I say happily.

"Really?! Who?" my mom asked, as happily as I was.

"Finnick. I'm not sure what his last name is, but it's a unique name so I guess that you could pick him out." I say. My mother's eyes widen.

"Finnick? Annie, we've been friends with his parents for a long time! Your father just decided that he spends a lot of time at work with Mr. Odair at work anyways so why go out with them?" My mom said. As she said this, my eyes widened too.

"I didn't know that! I should have figured it out. He and his sister's name did ring a bell." I say. My mom gave me a questioning look.

"He told you about his sister and he just met you? Wow. Most boys wouldn't just go around and decide to be friends with somebody and actually tell them about their family." My mom said. I didn't understand why she was so surprised by this.

"What makes you surprised? I guess that I should tell you that we also played a truth game where someone would ask a question and the other would need to answer truthfully. It was pretty fun. Plus we got to know a couple of things about each other." I say.

"Oh. That sounds like fun. Why don't you clean up for supper?" Mom asked. I nodded my head and went upstairs.

2 months later (April, Annie's Birthday)

I wake up excitedly, take a shower, and put on my best dress and walk to the kitchen to see my birthday breakfast sitting in front of my on the table. I start eating right away and finish quickly. My mother walked into the room with a smile on her face.

"Happy Birthday, Sweetheart! How was your sleep?" My mom asked me nicely.

"Thank you! My sleep was lovely! How was yours?" I ask.

"Mine was great! Did you like your breakfast?" She asked. I nodded my head in a fast speed and she laughed. "I like your dress." she added.

"Thank you, mom!" I say. Just as I say this, I hear a knock on the door. **(A/N: Today they didn't have school)** I opened it to find Finnick smiling at me.

"Hey Annie!" Finnick said taking in my light blue dress with embroidery on the bottom.

"Hey Finn!" I say, calling him the nickname I made about a month ago. We saw each other everyday since we became friends that day in Febuary. District 4 denies the fact that it's winter and just stays warm.

"Happy Birthday!" Finnick said pulling his hand out from behind his back and gave me a small present. I smiled at him and hugged him tightly and quickly.

"Thank you!" I say. Then I put it on the table with the rest of my gifts. "I will open it later at the party." I told him. He nodded his head.

"Do you want to go swimming?" Finnick asked. I nodded my head.

"Mom! Can I go swimming with Finnick?!" I asked her. Once she agreed, Finnick reached out for my hand and we walked to the beach together.

When we got there, we raced to see who would get to the water first. I beat him by about a foot. I felt my smile grow wider across my face.

"I win!" I gloated. He rolled his green eyes at me and smiled.

"I was just _letting_ you win since it's your birthday." Finnick explained to me.

"Oh really?" I asked, amused. "Then let's have a race without you letting me win. No slowing down for me at all. I promise that I won't slow down when I get ahead of you." I say.

"You seem so sure you will win. It's a deal." Finnick agreed and we shook hands.

I chose a spot about 5 yards from the ocean where we would begin. Whoever hit the water first, won.

We found somebody to count down for us and approve who won.

"Five, four, three, two, one!" Then with a blow of the whistle we were off. I sprinted and hugged myself in so that there was less of me.

The time was so close that I had no idea about who won. We both turned to the judge, breathing heavily. He pointed his arm at me and then left after telling me a 'Congrats'.

"I told you Finn! I'm faster than you! I don't blame you though. I'm incredibly fast for what I look like." I said to him. He looked at me finally.

"Fine. You're right, Annie. You are faster than me, Finnick Odair." he finally admitted. A smile took over my face as I dove into the water.

The little fish don't even notice a difference in the waves from my movement. This is why I love to swim. The fish actually trust me. It was then, that Finnick dove in after me and the fish left, that I came back to reality.

I looked over at him and saw him raise his eyebrows up and down at me. I let out a laugh and soon went back up for air. I went back down and swam effortlessly to a group of fish that let me touch their scales. They swam across the water at exactly the same pace.

Finn watched me as I did this and his smile grew and I smiled a little too. I grabbed him by the hand and pulled him to a cave where we can see the fish while we can still breathe.

I got up on the rocky surface and looked around me to see if there was an interesting creature near by. I found a sea horse. I pointed it out to Finnick and he nodded. I stood up to look around and slipped on the rock. My leg hits something on the rock that makes it bleed and I fall down. My arm gets poked by an unknown object and my head hits the wall of the cave. Then everything went black.

**How was that? It was really dramatic and stuff, so if I got some reviews, that would be great!**


	3. Hospitals and Parties

**Hey guys if anyone's out there! I hope that you like this chapter! I thought that it would be good to have this in Finnick's POV because then we could learn more about how he feels about Annie. I also wanted to clear up that Annie is turning 9 and Finnick is 11, but most of the time, they are 3 years apart.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games. *sob***

**Finnick's POV:**

I ran up from where I was sitting and picked up Annie. She was barely conscious, but she could probably hold her breath.

"Annie, can you hear me?" I asked hurriedly. She nodded her head. "Okay. Can you hold your breath when I tell you to?" I asked her. She nodded her head again. I ran to the edge of the cave and told her to hold her breath, then swam away. I got up to the air and told her she could breathe again.

I ran to the hospital and immediately a nurse started to work on her. I sat down tapping my foot when I realized something.

Her mom needs to know.

I got up and ran to the Cresta's house. Once I got in, Annie's mom asked me what was wrong.

"We went to a cave and she slipped. I got her to the hospital, but I thought that you should know." I explained to her.

Poor Annie. That's all that I can think about. She's my best friend. I would never tell someone this. Except for her maybe. Nobody understands me like she does. I have a lot of friends at school, yes, but when I'm with Annie it's different. It's like I can be me around her. Like it's so easy to talk to her. I think it's the same with her too. Since her friends are fish at least.

I ran to the hospital and walked up to one of the nurses. "Do you know where Annie Cresta is? She slipped in a cave and got cut in her leg, arm, and head." I winced as I said this. It's so hard to know that Annie's in pain. She nodded her head.

"She's the third bed down on your left." she told me pointing to a bed that was in fact, three beds down on my left.

I walked hurriedly to the bed and knocked on the wall to see if I could look behind the curtains. I heard a small "Come in" from Annie and opened the curtains to see her bruises and cuts all over her body. Her beautiful dress was probably ruined. I ran to her side and sat down on the visitor's chair.

"I'm _so_ sorry Annie. I won't let anything like this ever happen to you again." I promised her. If only she knew how much I meant it. How could I let this happen to her? I'm supposed to be her best friend. I'm supposed to look out for her.

"It's fine Finnick. This," she gestured to her body. "isn't your fault. And don't think that it is. I know that you'll blame yourself even after I say this, but you couldn't have saved me. If you think about it, your slow legs wouldn't have been able to come and catch me fast enough." She joked, smiling. I smiled back at her because I knew that she was right.

At that moment, her mom ran in looking worried as ever and hugged her only child tightly for a long time.

"Mom, I can't breathe." Annie said. At this, her mom pulled back and looked around her.

"Annie, you need rest." Mrs. Cresta told her daughter **(A/N: She's a nurse if I haven't mentioned it yet)**. Then she looked directly at me.

"Uh... bye Annie. Sorry your birthday had to be in here..." I said awkwardly. I turned around, but before I could leave, Annie grabbed my arm.

"Thank you Finn." she said.

"For what?" I asked her. She gave me a small smile before saying. "Thank you for everything." she said. I smiled back at her.

"Anytime." I said and then left the hospital.

1 day later (Annie is allowed out of the hospital)

*knock, knock, knock*

Annie opened the door and hugged me quickly before letting me come in. I looked in her house and saw that I was the only one there except for her parents. This made me feel awkward, but she didn't seem to mind. That's what I like about Annie. I don't get how she didn't have any friends before me. She's the most selfless person that I've ever met.

"Hey Finn! You're the first person here! Well out of the two people that I've invited... My other friend should be here soon." Annie said. "She's an adult, but still my friend. You know Mags? The victor of the Hunger Games?"

Of course I know Mags. She was the sweetest person that the Huger Games ever had. "Yeah, I know Mags. I've never met her though." I said. From what I've heard, she was the first out of the Games that didn't kill anyone.

"Now you can!" Annie stated happily. "When I have free time, I go to her house at the Victor's Village and help her with easy things like cooking, gardening, and so on. She's the nicest person I've ever met."

At this, we heard a knock on the door and an women who seemed in her late 60's came into the room. Annie ran up from where she was sitting and hugged the old woman.

"Hi Annie. Happy Birthday!" she said in a barely legible voice. Annie's smile grew wider which I didn't know was possible. It seemed to brighten the room dramatically.

"Mags, this is my best friend Finnick Odair." she introduced me. Mags smiled and shook my hand. I smiled back at her. Her silvery white hair was pinned to the top of her head. She had light green eyes that twinkle in the sunlight. You could tell that she was beautiful before she got... well, old.

"Hi Mags." I greeted her kindly.

"Hello Finnick. Nice to meet you!" She said in a still barely-legible voice. She looked around and hugged both Annie's parents.

"Okay, well what do you want to do first?" Annie's dad asked. Annie looked into outer space and then decided.

"How about we eat the cake first?" she suggested. When we all nodded, her dad went to the kitchen and took out a small cake **(A/N: REALLY small. Like- there is only enough for five people.)** that had little fish around it in decoration. He cut up the cake into five pieces after we sang 'Happy Birthday' and then we all ate our cake in silence.

When we finished our cake, Annie opened her presents. She carefully opened the one from her parents first and saw that she got a silver pin in the shape of a fish. She smiled happily and put it on her light green dress.

"Thank you." Annie said smiling. She found the gift from me and opened it and her face lit up even more. A while ago, I made a small water color picture of the beach and thought of Annie. She was always there- at least until her mom called her inside. I thought that maybe with this, she could always be there.

"This is so gorgeous Finnick! Oh my gosh! How did you get this?!" Annie exclaimed.

"I made it. My mom taught me how to paint when I was 10 and I've gotten better since." I told her. Her eyes widened. Paint is a lot of money here so it was hard to gather all of it to make the beach.

"Finn, thank you!" she said. Then she got up and hugged me. When she got back to the gifts she opened the one from Mags and got a pretty charcoal dress with a white bow in the middle. Annie smiled and said one last 'Thank you' to everyone before we all started to socialize. Mags and Mr. and Mrs. Cresta talked about Mags's Games while Annie and I talked about the water- being a _little_ too dramatic.

"I love it when I dive into the water and none of the fish or other creatures move." Annie said talking with her hands.

"That's funny because I love it when I dive into the water and _all_ of the fish and other creatures move." I said and we both laughed.

"I love to go out in the early morning when it's still a little cold outside and swim because it's so refreshing." Annie said peacefully.

I nodded my head. "It's hard to disagree." I replied. Me and Annie are basically the same person. I'm pretty sure that the only three things that are different is that she is _way_ more selfless than I am. The second thing is when I swim, I swim with force, while she is very careful to not disturb the animals around us. The last thing our age. Everything else is exactly the same.

"Now I want to swim." Annie said. I smiled at her.

"When _don't_ you want to swim?" I asked her. Annie blushed when I said this. The answer was never. We were always swimming, so when I ask if she wants to swim normally, I actually mean for her to ask her_ mother _if we can swim. I'm pretty sure that it gets annoying for her, so eventually she will probably tell us to just swim whenever we want as long as we want.

"Mom! Can I go swimming with Finnick?" Annie asked her mother when she was right in the middle of a sentence. She nodded and continued talking.

I took Annie's hand and we went down to the beach. Before I dove in, I promised myself not to let anything happen to her this time.

**How was that? I would appreciate some reviews! This is the longest chapter so far! Yay! XD**


	4. Worrying and Reaping

**Hey guys! I would like to thank you for the reviews that I've gotten so far!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. *sob***

**Annie's POV**

The whole time Finnick and I were swimming, I couldn't help but notice that he was always looking at me by the corner of his eye. It bothered me. He was looking out for me, I know, but I can take care of myself. That was the first time that I slipped in that cave. Thank goodness that Finnick was there or else _I _wouldn't be_ here._

After about 20 minutes of thinking this, I gave up. "Finn, could you please stop looking at me? Nothing bad will happen, okay. That was the first bad thing that happened to me in years. Just stop." I say.

He looked me in the eyes and then touched the scar next to my ear. It wasn't very big and dramatic, so I could go to school without being asked questions. Finnick noticed it though.

"Annie... I... It hurt so much to see you like that... You don't understand." Finn said. This made me annoyed.

"Finn I might understand though. Try me." I said trying to convince him.

"No Annie. I'm sorry. It's getting late. We should probably go." He said annoyingly right. It's just turned to dusk, so my mom will be worried. Finnick grabbed my hand and walked me back home in silence. I wonder what he's thinking about...

13 months later

So far, this has been the worst year of my life. Now Finn can sign up for tessera, so I have someone to loose at the reaping tomorrow. I've never had somebody to loose so far, because all of the important people in my life were either too young, or too old.

At this moment, I'm sitting on my bed with my knees up to my chest, arms wrapped around my legs. By now, I would normally be down stairs. I doubt that anyone could leave their beds now. The monsters of the Capital took away our happiness. All of it. Over one stupid day.

Now, I would normally be swimming. Soon Finnick will go to the beach and see that I'm not there. He'll know where I am. I probably knows how I feel. Completely broken inside. Sort of depressed. Tomorrow, Finnick might have to go on stage. He might. He told me that he never signed up for tessera, but I'm still afraid. He still has one slip of paper in there. It's not fair.

At this I heard the front door open. "Annie!" Finnick yelled my name. He ran into my room and hugged me. I relaxed by his presence a little, but not completely. He didn't say anything because he knew that there was nothing to be said. That one tiny piece of paper among thousands could be his death sheet.

"Annie, do you want breakfast?" Finn asked me. I nodded my head 'no' and went back into my state. I could see the fear in his eyes even though he was probably trying to hide it. He wanted to look strong for me. He's so sweet. But that just makes me more upset.

"Annie, do you want to go swimming?" Finn asked me. I nodded my head- yes this time. We both left my house, hand in hand.

We raced like always to see who would get to the water first. As usual, I won. I dived into the water and none of the fish moved at all. Then Finnick dove in, and all of them moved and hit in their little caves. This always made me smile, but today, it didn't. I might only see it one more time.

As this thought came into my head, I got up to the land for air. I knew that I would need it because I would be crying soon. Finnick noticed that something was wrong, so he came up too and hugged me. I cried on his shoulder. This isn't fair! The Capital ruins everything! Finnick is my only friend and I might loose him tomorrow! That made me cry harder.

"Annie, how about we go to the beach?" Finn suggested. I nodded my head in agreement as we swam back.

When we got to the shore, I hugged Finn tightly, trying to note his smell, the way that his arms felt around me, how he always knows how I feel and more. He's my best friend. I've never met anyone like him. Finnick is impossible to replace if anything bad happens. Why did the world have to be this way?

I finally controlled myself and stopped sobbing. Finn still hugged me because he knew that I'm not okay yet. I'm not sure if I'll be okay for the next 8 years.

Next Day (Reaping Day)

I sit in my bed like I did yesterday, waking from a bad dream. I'm sure that anyone who's been around me for the past week would know what the dream was about. Finn got picked for the Hunger Games and I had to watch him being killed slowly and painfully. It was the most vivid and realistic dream that I've ever had. I woke up screaming my head off.

I felt my legs stiffen, but I didn't do anything about it. Finn will probably be here soon. I just need to see him to make sure that the dream wasn't real. To make sure that I won't have to attempt to drown myself later.

A couple of minutes later, Finn walked right into my room and hugged me like he did yesterday. When he asked if I wanted breakfast, I nodded my head 'no', and when he asked if I wanted to swim, I nodded my head 'yes'.

We left my house hand in hand, and raced to see who would win. I won as usual. I dove in and none of the fish moved. Finn dove in and all of the fish moved. I went back up for air and hugged Finnick. He swam us to shore and we stayed there just hugging each other... Just like yesterday.

When I was calmed down, Finn took me home and I changed into the dress that Mags gave me for my birthday. My mother put my hair in a side braid with seaweed and flowers in it- the way she did when I was little. When we left, my mom held my hand. I took a deep breath and continued walking.

I looked strong, but my heart was going a million times a second. It hurt. My heart I mean. I took more deep breaths so that I wouldn't have a heart attack right there on the spot.

When we got to the roped of space around the crowd, I looked around for Finnick. My parents chose a spot in the boys section where I could be there, closer to my best friend. Mags was on the stage already with the other victors. She gave me a nice smile and I returned it with what I think is a nice smile as well. It must have turned out to be a nervous smile because Mags changed her nice smile into an encouraging smile.

I continued to look for Finnick and caught his eyes. He didn't look nervous. Instead, he gave me an assuring smile that actually reached his eyes. I smiled back at him and his smile grew bigger. I still had a voice in my head saying that his name will be chosen, but right now I ignored it.

The mayor went up to the microphone and talked about the rebellion and showed the little boring video that they always show. It explained how the rebellion ending and showed District 13 explode into tiny pieces. That how our rebelling forced them into making the Hunger Games. I ignored it the whole time, only looking at Finnick to see how he's doing. He's looking at me as well and we lock eyes until the video is done.

"Now, onto the tributes!" Our escort Lexi Mianog chirped happily. "Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor! Now, as usual, let's start with the ladies!" She called out into the microphone while walking to the girls' bowl. It was dead silent the whole time and then she called out the name Kinsa Moufal and a strong looking girl came up on the stage wearing a poker face.

"Now onto the boys!" Lexi stated excitedly. I held me breath. "Soren Tailen."

That single name almost made me cry with relief. I controlled myself though, because that would be kind of rude. He walked up the stage with a scared expression.

"Now, shake hands you two!" she squealed. They did as she said, and the scared expression on the boy changed into a painful one. It seemed that Kinsa had a strong grasp on his hand because when he tried to let go, she didn't let him until she wanted to let him go.

Then, they got taken away by some Peacekeepers and went inside the Justice Building. They dismissed us after this and Finn first ran to hug his parents, then to hug me. I hugged him tightly and then let go. My parents made me go home with them first to change so that I wouldn't ruin the dress from Mags.

I quickly instead changed into some old shorts and a t shirt. It was comfortable, and it looks good enough. I walked out of my room to see Mags in my living room saying good bye to my parents. I ran into her and hugged her tightly. This year, she had to be a mentor so we needed to say our good byes.

"Good bye Annie. I'll see you around the end of the summer." Mags mumbled. I nodded my head into her shoulder. At first, it was hard to understand her, but when you're around her as much as I am, you start to get it.

"Bye Mags. I'll miss you. See you later. I hope that this year they aren't crazy." I say. Whenever there are volunteers, they are bloodthirsty freaks, and when there aren't, you never know.

"Me too." Mags said. I let go of her and she went to go hug my mom and dad. It's always hard to have Mags gone because she's the one that I always go to for help when I think that Finn wouldn't understand. She's the one that let's me cry on her shoulder at night when I sneak out. She's the one that doesn't _tell my parents_ when I sneak out. Mags is my grandmother figure since both of my real ones died.

I go through it though. And if Finnick left too, then I would have nobody there for me.

**How was that? It's even _longer _than the last chapter! Could you pretty please tell me what you thought? *batting eyelashes***


	5. A Promise and Another Reaping

**Hello again! I would like to thank you guys for the reviews! A big thanks to RunningGuitarMaster for reviewing no matter what! I also wanted to tell you, that Finnick's birthday is in November, after the reaping, so during the reaping Annie was 10 and Finnick was 12. Now onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. *sob***

**Annie's POV**

After Mags left, I went outside to the party going on for the happy people who's children didn't get picked. I loved these parties. They had the best fish there and there was a lot of dancing and swimming and other activities. I would _hate_ to be a parent though, whose child got chosen for the games and there was a party going on outside. I would _hate_ having to listen to their partying while my child was about to face their death.

Finnick was waiting at the tree where we used to normally meet at after school, but now we just walk together. He smiled at my appearance and walked over to me. He was wearing some light gray shorts and an aqua colored t shirt. I hugged him, glad that he didn't leave. It would have been awful here alone. I would be hiding in my room trying to drown out the sounds of the party- or just drowning myself.

Finn hugged me tighter knowing what I was thinking before letting me go.

"Annie, you must promise me not to do anything crazy if I ever get chosen. You must promise me." Finn said looking directly into my eyes. I just stared back.

"I promise you, that while you're still living, I won't do anything crazy. While you're still living, though." I promised him. He nodded his head 'no'. Clearly this wasn't enough. It would take all of my power not to do anything if he got chosen- let alone if he died.

"Annie. You can't kill yourself if I ever die. It would make me happier if you promised me." Finnick was begging me now. "Please, Annie." I just nodded my head, unable to find my voice. Once I took control again, I said a little "I promise" and he smiled and hugged me again.

12 months later

"Did you take any tessera?" I asked Finnick the morning of my first Reaping. I'm really worried about me or Finn getting picked.

"Yes. Not much though. I only have 5 slips in there." Finn told me. My eyes widened. I know that it's 5 out of thousands, but that's a lot to me. I have 1 because my parents wouldn't let me get tessera. My dad caught fish instead with his spear.

"What if it happens? What happens if one of us- or both of us get chosen?" I asked him.

"If both of us get chosen, I will make Mags choose you. I will protect you and make you win." He said. "If I get chosen, I will do my best to come out innocent. I will try not to kill anybody unless absolutely necessary. If you get chosen, then I will tell you not to give up. That would be crazy if either of us get chosen though." Finn said. I nodded, hoping that he was right. If Finn got chosen, then I would be alone because Mags is mentoring again. She normally does because all of the other Victors are lazy bums.

We sat in silence for a couple of seconds, then we decided that it's time to face reality and left to go home. I changed into a light green dress for the reaping. I feel like I'm gonna be sick...

When me and my family left, I was so light-headed that my mother had to hold me up. I'm not ready for this. I don't think that anyone's ever ready for this though. We went to the square and I had to leave my parents. I hugged them both and went to the finger prick station. When they finished, they directed me to where I had to stand.

I waited for the longest 3 minutes of my life until Lexi showed up to announce the tributes. I watched Finnick while the video was playing to see him looking back at me. He gave me a reassuring smile. I smiled back at him, but I'm sure that it was more nervous than reassuring.

"Welcome to the 65 Hunger Games! May the odds be _ever_ in you favor!" Lexi said in her most chirpy voice she had. "Now, as usual, ladies first!" By now, I'm so light-headed that I feel like I'm going to faint.

She put her hand in the bowl and Finn looked at me one last time and then up at the stage. I followed his gaze when Lexi found a piece of paper near the middle. "Amaniya Dillgo" She said clearly. There was a cry- probably from the mother, as her daughter walked on the stage. She looked buff enough. Not enough to win probably.

"Now, onto the boys!" Lexi chirped. I was about to faint again. I took a deep breath, looked at Finn, then looked up at the bowl filled with five slips that were his and thousands of other ones. I held my breath. "Finnick Odair." she said and I fell down. I just fell. My knees gave out and I could barely breathe.

Finn slowly walked up, a little shocked and then shook Amaniya's hand.

I guess that Finnick's strong. He could win. He could come out of the Games. If the finale is a big flood, then he could definitely win. Finn's the best swimmer I know. It will be fine.

As I tried to convince myself that he could win, everybody started to look at me. I wonder if falling down has happened before. I would think so. I'm not sure if I've seen it, but I'm sure that someone's knees gave out at some point.

Somebody next to me helped me up. I got up just so that I wouldn't have attention. When I did, I saw that Finn and Amaniya left to the Justice Building.

"If you would like to say goodbye to the tributes, come here." Lexi told us when she was next to the Justice Building.

I ran over there and she gave a line for Finn, and one for Amaniya. I ran into Finn's line and I was the first one to see him. I looked to my right to see someone with blonde hair crying her eyes out.

A Peacekeeper took me in and showed me where the door to Finn's room is. I had to run to keep pace with him, but I didn't mind. I just want to see him. To make sure that he promises that he will get out.

When we reach the door, I run in and hug Finn, who was pacing back and forth.

"You _have _to win. You _must_ win. If not for you, then for me. _Please._" I practically begged him. He nodded, but that's not enough. "Promise me. Promise me that you'll do everything and anything to win." I say.

"I promise Annie." Finn said, then he hugged me tightly and we stood there like that until the Peacekeeper sent me away.

"Don't die, Finn." I say, almost on the verge of tears. "Goodbye." Then, just one tear fell from my eye and he wiped it away before I turned around and left.

I'm gonna hate this Hunger Games.

**Sorry that this one is a little shorter than the ones that I've been posting lately. I couldn't really think of anything else to write. Please review!**


	6. Reapings and Opening Ceremony

**Hey guys! Happy New Year! Now that school is here, I can't update as much as I'd like, but I'll still try! Here's the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games. *sob***

**Annie's POV**

Once I got home, I ran into my room and got ready for the tears. Once they came it was like a waterfall coming from my face. I screamed into my pillow, kicking and screaming out all of my energy.

While I was having my little meltdown, my parents tried to get me out of my room, but I wasn't leaving so they just gave up. The only person who could calm me down was Finn normally. Just thinking about him makes me scream and sob more.

Once I'm too tired to scream anymore, I left to the beach. Surly swimming will help me. Surely. And if it doesn't I'll probably still be screaming when Finn comes back.

By the time that it's really dark out, I'm finally ready to go inside. The water helped enough, but barely enough. When I open the door, I see my parents comforting the Odairs. Finnick's family. At this, I freeze. I'm still not ready to face reality. Reality is evil. Reality makes me want to drown myself. Ignore my promise to Finn and drown myself.

They look up and see me. My parents have a sad look on their faces. Finn's parents' eyes are red and puffy. I can't look at Almy though. It would be like looking at me, only a little less insane looking.

It was then that I decided to look at myself. In the mirror was a ghost, not a person. My eyes lost the light in them and instead are completely dull and empty with bags under them. My hair is tangled and air dried. My cheeks are hollow. To everyone else, I must look like a zombie compared to normal me.

"Honey, not to be mean or anything, but you don't look good at all." My mother said looking at me up and down. I just pouted and ran to my room trying to think of ways to block out the sounds of the party that was going to happen in 30 minutes or so.

I took the picture that Finnick gave me a while ago just in case I was ever lonely. After I got my thin blanket and lumpy pillow, I went underneath my bed and covered myself with my blanket, putting my pillow in a way that will block out most sounds. I hugged the painting to my chest. It was a picture of me and Finn at the beach during the sunrise that we watched every morning. I felt a smile stretch onto my face.

I hugged the picture to my chest again and laid down in that uncomfortable position. This was much better than listening to the others celebrate about my best friend getting picked instead of them. What I would give to go back in time and tell myself how rude it is. I'm never going to one of those stupid parties.

My mom knocked on the door and walked in, not caring that I didn't answer. She looked around for me and finally found my hiding spot. Mom walked up and hugged me. She didn't say anything, but just hugged me.

My sweet mother.

Then she ruined it all by saying that I should leave my room.

"No mom. You don't understand." I said in a voice that didn't sound like me. It sounded like a zombie. Not a real person. She nodded her head and left. It was that easy.

That's what I love about my parents. They don't push me to do anything that I don't want to do.

I must have been thinking about this for a long time because my mom knocked on my door again to tell me that the reapings were going to start.

I got up, unsure if I was doing the right thing, and walked out of my room and into the room with our old projector in it to see that the Odairs are still here. I sat down in between my mother and father, waving to the Odairs. I was right. Almy kind of does look like me, only a little less crazed- that is if you subtract our actual looks. She had bronze hair and shocking green eyes like the rest of the Odairs. They all look the same.

When I saw our district in the reaping, I was glad that I couldn't see myself falling down. Now that I look at it up close, Finn kind of looks nervous. Only I would be able to detect it though. Thank goodness for that. We don't want any careers to think he's weak.

There was nothing interesting this year. It's just the same old reaping. You could tell that 12, 11, 5, 6 and 8 won't make it. Both tributes of those districts look weak. They would only be able to win if they are extremely smart probably. Only 5 would probably be able to be smart enough to win without any physical strength. That's the only time that district 5 wins anyways.

When it turns off, I run into my room again and look at my wall filled with all of the paintings that Finn made for me. There must be 50 of them. He says that whenever we aren't together, he's painting... or swimming. I wonder if there will be something to paint with in the Capital. It would clear his mind off things.

I went to bed and was awoken with a nightmare. I'm still screaming now.

This is what Finn's for. He's supposed to stop me from screaming. He's supposed to be here. Not on the train going to face his death. He's supposed to be with me.

Images play in my head and I can't help it. My mind is playing tricks on me.

Now that I've started screaming, it's hard to stop. I'm found covering my ears, screaming as loud as my vocal cords would let me, by my mom. Trailing behind her is my dad. They both embrace me and they don't say anything while their ears are becoming deaf from my screams. My parents knew that there were only two people who could possibly help me right now. And both are in the Capital. Finn and Mags.

Once my lungs got tired- which took about and hour- I stopped screaming and crawled under the covers of my bed that I was still in.

It's almost time for the opening ceremonies, so I get up and walk into the kitchen to get something to eat- which always means fish.

My parents watch me with shock in their eyes. I looked back at them and waved, then continued cooking my fish. I don't get why they're so surprised. It's the first time that I've eaten in the last day and a half, but that doesn't really mean anything.

Once my fish is done, I put it on a plate and walk down to sit in front of where the projection will appear. My parents come too and sit down beside me.

They are officially being weird.

"Hey guys. Whats happened today?" I ask, trying to keep the conversation casual. They just look at me with wide eyes. "What?" I ask.

"Oh. Um. Nothing really. Are you excited about the opening ceremonies?" My mom asked. I nodded.

"I wonder what insane thing they're going to make Finn wear." I say. I could use this as a weapon to tease him. If he comes back that is. I push back my tears, annoyed.

The projection turned on and we watched it.

District 1 was beautiful as always, so was 2 in their dark redish- orange- the color of bricks. I was leaning forward when District 4 came up. I gasped. Finn was astonishing. He looked like the sea itself. You could see his gorgeous blue suit glistening by the lighting. Amaniya was beautiful too, but it wasn't like Finnick.

The women in the Capital were fainting and some were conscious long enough to scream and throw a rose his way. He caught one and blew a kiss in that direction. It was disgusting, but if it would earn him sponsors, then it's okay. Finn _needs _to get out of there. Alive.

When they reached the front, the ones that fainted were trying to catch their breath. I just rolled my eyes at them. This is childish behavior. Sure he's made for that suit, but there's no need to faint about it.

Then, they were gone and the Capital showed their seal on the screen before it turned off.

I decided that I needed a swim. After changing into something more water proof, I sprinted into the water out of habit. No fish was worried once they realized that it was me.

As I felt the water go passed me, my problems seem to fade away. It was then that I got out out the water for a breath to see that I was in this exact spot when I first saw Finn, running up to me. I felt the tears coming out of my eyes.

I swam to the shore and ran home. When I got there, it seems that my parents knew that this would happen, because the door was open and my mom opened her arms for me to crash into them. She stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head saying calming words.

Eventually, my tears start slowing down. My mom's poor dress was stained with tears. I look at it for a while. She looks down and waves it off.

What great parents I have.

They took me to bed and told me to have a good sleep even though we know it won't happen.

* Dream *

I look around to see Finn standing next to me. We were in a beautiful meadow. I smile and run to him as fast as my legs can take me. He embraces me and then I hear a noise. I turn to look and see President Snow. Immediately I turn completely white. I nudged Finnick, but he keeps on looking at me.

"Finn, we should go." I whisper into his ear. He just keeps looking at me. I pull his arm and Finn wouldn't move. It's like his eyes have been magnetized so that they're always on me.

"I don't want to go Annie." Finn says. That's when I start getting desperate.

I walked away from him. He's going to follow me isn't he? I look back and see him standing there.

President Snow is now looking at us and smiling. He got out a huge knife.

Somebody came up behind him- Soren Tailen. He was picked at Finnick's first reaping. It was found that he was pretty good with a knife.

Snow gave Soren the knife, and he looked at it with happiness in his eyes. He smiled. Without another thought, he threw it at Finnick. I was in shock for less than half a second and then jumped in front of where it would have hit my best friend.

Finn got out of his little fairy tale and looked at me with only sadness in his eyes. It was like he was going to cry. He picked me up and walked me through the woods that was to the right of the meadow that we were just in.

Once we got far enough away from Snow and Soren, he laid me down and sat next to me. Finn held my hand while I bled to death, knowing there was nothing he could do about it.

It was then that I heard a stick crack and saw a knife go through Finn's back.

* Out of Dream *

I'm screaming the loudest yet after the dream. My parents are shaking me awake and calming me down. Tears are running down my face.

I ran up and got outside where I ran for the water and started to swim, not caring about my clothes getting ruined. I started to swim and some of my problems went away, but the things about Finn stayed there.

**How was that? It was more than 2000 words! Yay! If you have the time to review, that would be marvelous! If you have any ideas please tell me because I would be glad to hear them! Or read them... :) Until next time!**


	7. Annie and Training

**Hello! I hope that you guys liked the last chapter! Onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Finnick's POV**

I woke up from a nightmare, screaming. It was about Annie. All of my nightmares are about Annie. This one was different though. Normally, she just dies really fast. It's awful. This one though. I saw the boy tribute from district 1 killing her slowly. Killing her slowly, bleeding, screaming, asking for my help. But I couldn't move. I sat there doing nothing while my best friend bled to death.

What a great friend I am.

Suddenly, it feels like a knife went through my heart. Annie. I've been thinking about myself the whole time, not thinking about how she's doing. She's probably gone mad. I'm guessing this from her reaction at the reaping.

I turned on my stomach and screamed into my pillow as loud as my voice would let me. She's probably thinking of ways to kill herself if I die. I know that she'll break the promise. I just know it. She needs me and Mags. I wonder how she's doing. I would always calm her from the nightmares that haunted her in her sleep. I wonder who does that now that both me _and _Mags are gone.

I left my room and went to the dining room, knowing that I can't go back to sleep. When I got there, I asked for some hot chocolate. We didn't have any of it in District 4, but it's really good.

The avox came with my mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate shavings on the top. I quickly took it and drank almost half of it. Then I closed my eyes only to find dream-Annie dying with blood all around her. I opened my eyes quickly and took another drink- the same amount.

"Could you please get me some more?" I asked an avox next to me. She nodded her head and left. She looks familiar. She looks like Annie. My eyes widened and then I started to pace back and forth in front of the couch that I was just sitting on. The avox came back in and handed me the drink.

"Thanks." I said looking up one second to regret it the next. She looks just like her. _Just_ like her. I studied her face to look for a sign that it wasn't actually Annie. I noticed that there was a freckle right below Annie's eye once, and didn't see it on the avox. Now she's looking at me funny. I smiled at her and turned around to my room.

By the time that I got there, the hot chocolate was gone. I had nothing to do, so I wrote a couple of letters in case I don't come back. The first to Annie.

_Annie,_

_Tha-_

I crumpled up the paper and threw it in the trash. I took out a next one.

_Annie,_

_I wish th-_

I crumpled up that one as well. The third time, I gave up and went to the restroom. I looked in the mirror and saw a zombie. I don't look like myself at all.

"Oh good! You're already up!" an annoying chirpy voice said behind me. I groaned. She's the last person that I want to see right now. Lexi didn't seem to notice my anger at her presence. I left to the main room and she followed me.

I collapsed on one of the light blue couches and put my face in my hands. It seems that whenever I close my eyes, I see Annie. Dying. Drowning in her own blood.

I put my head in a pillow to drown out the sound of my screaming. I already knew that Lexi would be surprised before I even screamed. She said some stupid comment, but I don't know what it was about because of the hole in my heart that only Annie could fill up.

I heard some people walk into the room and saw Amaniya and our mentors, Mags and Conner Washmaner. Conner has a strong build, so that helped him with combat. They were looking at me with weird looks. Oh. Right. Apparently, I look attractive to the people of the Capital. Now I must look more awful than I did before.

They stopped for a second and continued walking. I trailed behind them to the dining table where our breakfast- which was _way_ too much food- was. I hugged Mags before sitting down across from her. We ate our breakfast in silence if you don't count Lexi's bickering.

When Lexi was done ranting about manners, she understood that we didn't like her and she left. Both me and Amaniya looked up to our mentors who were sitting across from us.

"So, what's the plan? What do we do in the arena?" Amaniya asked them. It looked like Mags was going to respond, but Conner beat her to it.

"Go to the Careers during training. They're your best chance to survive. Then they will probably take you to water, which you will need." he said. "If you want to be alone, then you'll probably die. But, if it comes to that, you should get something far from the Cornucopia. Get what you _need._ If anybody goes far in it, they're dead unless they're with the Careers."

Mags added another one of her mumbles that I could tell only I could understand. Amaniya leaned forward as she started speaking. "Also you need to go to the edible plant station. That can be extremely helpful. Also go to knot tying even though you already know it. There are some knots there that aren't used for fish they're used for people instead. You can choose to stop whenever you want there if it's too easy." she said.

With that, both of them left. We stayed there though, not knowing what to do.

"You guys should leave now. Come with me." Lexi said in her annoying chirpy voice. We followed her to the elevator and she pushed one of the lower buttons. After we got off, we looked around. Most of them look weak enough. Some of them though- mainly the Careers- looked strong and healthy. Most of the Careers towered over me.

Atala proceeded with the instructions. Once the bell rang to let us leave, the Careers went right to the weapons, and I didn't follow them. I decided that if I was going to be a Career, then I would have to kill too many people. Annie wouldn't like that.

I went to the edible plant station, where the girl from 5 is. She must be the only weak one with sense, I decided. That's how it usually goes. 5 normally gets far if they don't die in the bloodbath.

After I decided that I was pretty good at that, I went to the knot tying station. There wasn't anybody there except for the instructor. He seemed glad that someone cared about knotting.

It was about 15 minutes until I completed all of the knots he asked me to make. The instructor seemed impressed about how much I know about them.

I went to the camouflage next. I was really good at painting, so maybe this can be a strength for the games. This had the boy from six at it. It was really hard to tell though. He was covered by a bunch of paint and moss. The only way I could see him was because he waved his hand at me. I smiled back.

The instructor showed me how to make it look like you're a tree first because normally there are trees in the arena. The Capital people think that it's boring for the tributes to die over natural causes, so the game makers try to make sure that doesn't happen too often. They make mutts though, that are incredibly deadly and make sure to make your last moments be in terrible, terrible pain.

I stayed at the camouflage for another 30 minutes and then went to the fire starter area. It would be rude to Annie if I died because I can't make a stupid fire. The instructor told us when it would be okay to make a fire and when not, and how to hide it when you can't and you're dying. I found all of this helpful.

When I mastered that, it happened to be lunch time. I ate my lunch and sat with 6 and 11, deciding that they're nice. The little girl from 6 reminded me of Annie. It seems that she's all that I see now. In every face of every girl that I see. Even in the Capital girls' faces. I miss her so much... I looked down and started eating again.

After lunch, I went to a rock climbing station, deciding that there might be a huge cliff or something. I mastered that in about an hour. Now, finally, I went to the weapons.

Mags and Conner told us not to show our strengths, so that would mean no trident. I didn't trust Conner, but if Mags agrees, then I will do it. She's the only part of Annie that I have left. I kind of already showed my skills at the knot tying, but they told me to go there. Instead of the trident, I went to the knives. No doubt I'll need to know about those.

I haven't seen Amaniya, but I guess that she ran off with the Careers since she sat with them for lunch. I looked around to see them all at the wrestling station. I've never been good at that.

I focused on my knife throwing and did that for 30 minutes. Next up, spears.

Now, I noticed how completely horrible I am at throwing spears. I am horrible at it. Completely awful. I wouldn't ever be able to be good at it. I can't use a spear unless they're for close up people. That's why I chose the trident over the spear. I have a smaller chance of missing. Since there was no hope, I left that station to the shelter station.

Here, they showed us how to make shelter without it being too noticeable. They also told us how to find it.

After an hour of making shelters, I went to the survival station. It showed you how to dodge things, where to run if there's a fire, and other things like that. Luckily, there wasn't any water station, so if the arena floods, I'll have a better chance of winning.

Atala was on the speakers and told us that we were dismissed to leave and head back to our rooms. I nodded my head and went into the elevator. The Careers were behind me and pressed their buttons- including Amaniya. They didn't let anyone else in, so while they were talking about how excited they were to do this to this person, I was just in the corner, trying not to be noticed.

When they got to floor 4, I went straight to my room. It was then that I saw this remote. I picked it up and studied it. There were different buttons, but it didn't say what they did. I clicked on one, and the window that was looking out to the Capital turned into a rain forest. I clicked on another one and it showed a real forest. I repeated the process until I came upon the ocean.

I stood up and touched it, only to see that it was still the window. This made me mad, and I threw the stupid remote on the floor and it shattered into a million pieces. I smiled, but soon it turned into a frown as the remote fixed itself and it looked like new. I screamed and threw my pillow.

I hate it here.

**So... how was that? This is edited now, so if you noticed that Mags wasn't Finnick's mentor, then sorry... If you could take some time to review, that would be highly appreciated! XD**


	8. Annie and Training Part 2

**Hello! I hope that you liked that last chapter! I'm sick today, so I was able to post this today! Too bad I was sick though...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Finnick's POV**

*knock knock knock*

"It's dinner time Finnick!" Lexi said in her chirpy voice.

"I don't care!" I said in the same voice. On the inside, I was laughing my butt off. I heard a snort on the other side of the wall to my right.

"Amaniya! I heard that! Now you both come to dinner now!" She said.

"Do you think I was kidding?" I asked. "I mean it. I don't want to." I said. Stupid Capital people.

They finally left me to myself. Finally.

I took a shower and pressed all of the buttons that smelled like the sea and ended up smelling just like Annie. Crap. I got some shorts and a light blue button up shirt and put them on. There's no chance that I'll be able to go to sleep any time soon.

I ran and laid down on my bed- face down. Annie. She's all that I can think about.

I gave up and went to the dining room to have dinner. I got ready for the 'I told you so's.

"Nice to see you have decided to join us for dinner." said Lexi, not looking up from her food. She's clearly mad at me.

"Sorry. I wasn't hungry before and had a lot on my mind." I said.

"Okay. We were just finishing, but you can eat without us, right?" Lexi asked. I nodded, not really wanting anyone around me in the first place.

"Actually, I wanted to eat dessert. We have that don't we?" Amaniya asked. I glared at her.

"Yes we do! What do you want? I love the strawberry cheesecake!" Lexi said happily. Amaniya smiled.

"That will do!" she said. Then she turned to an avox. "Could you please get me a cold glass of water?" The avox nodded and turned to leave.

When everyone left, Amaniya turned to me. "So, why are you being so distant?" she asked.

"I'm not being distant. I just have a lot on my mind." I said. She didn't seem convinced. It's true though! Sure, most of the things on my mind have something to do with Annie, but that's normal, right? I'm just wondering how my best friend is doing.

"Yeah. Sure." she said. I just ignored her and turned to my stew and continued eating.

The avox came in and gave Amaniya her water, then her plate full of a beautiful cake. She smiled at the avox and then took a big bite. Her face scrunched up.

"Darn. I forgot. I don't like cheesecake..." she said. I laughed at her. She thought for a minute. "Can I have some tiramisu?" she asked. The avox nodded again and left. When she was out of sight, I took Amaniya's plate and ate a bite of the cheesecake. It's so _rich._

She laughed at my face. "They don't have stuff like that in District 4. We aren't used to it. I'm sure if we ate like that all the time, then it would be good." she said.

"You're probably right." I said before I took another bite or my stew.

"Seriously though, what's on your mind?" Amaniya asked.

"Nothing." I said. She's annoyed that I'm not telling her about Annie, but I don't know her well enough yet. She's part of my life that nobody here knows about. I don't want to ruin that now.

"Fine. If you won't tell me, then I'll have to figure it out myself." she said. I didn't disagree with her because she'll never figure it out. She smiled mischievously.

"You'll never know." I said.

" I might already know. I just have to make sure..." she said. I sighed and finished off the stew before heading off to bed. I wonder if she really knows about Annie...

That night, I had another restless sleep and woke up early and took a shower pressing all of the buttons that I pushed before. I put on the black outfit that they had all of the tributes wear during the training. Oh no. I just remembered that I don't have anything from my district. I have nothing to remind me of home. At this thought, I sighed. I have nothing but the scent of District 4 on my reaping clothes.

Lexi knocked on my door. "It's time for breakfast!" she said in the same stupid voice.

Since I felt lonely, I actually went. They were talking about things that would help for the arena.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked them. They looked up at me.

"Conner and Kalia were saying that we should always know what we're doing and to not get distracted at all." Amaniya said. I sat down next to her and filled my plate with fruit and a waffle.

"Are you guys with the Careers yet?" Conner asked us.

"Yes, I am." Amaniya said.

"No I'm not with the Careers and I don't plan on being with them." I said.

Conner sighed. "Fine. That will do. I guess that the sponsors wouldn't want you to be dead, so they will probably be coming to your rescue."

I nodded. "That sounds accurate."

"Now, you" Conner said pointing at me, "can't go close to the Cornucopia. You must grab something, like a back pack, far away that will help you survive. Only for your survival. You can't get any weapons or anything." he said. "Now you" he said pointing to Amaniya, "have to be very close to the Careers so that they don't kill you.

"Since you are in two different groups, you have the choice to be trained separately." he said. I nodded.

"I think that's the best decision." I said. "We also don't want to become friends because it would just be harder in the arena." I added to Amaniya. She nodded her head.

With that, Lexi took us to the training center where 5 districts were already there. Now, we all waited for the remaining districts. Amaniya immediately went off to the Careers. I looked around and saw district 6 and went over to them. We haven't talked about an alliance, I think that we're only here to keep each other company.

Atala said the rules again and I did pretty much the exact same thing that I did yesterday. I did everything, except for the spears and I replaced that half hour with an ax. I guess that I'm basically good with every weapon except for spears. I haven't used a trident yet. I'll save that for the private training session.

During lunch, I sat with 11 and 6 again. They talked while I just ate. They would sometimes add me into the conversation, but didn't too much because they could tell that I didn't really want to talk.

After the end of training, we went up the elevator to floor 4. I went into my room and took a shower using the same smells. It's very calming...

Lexi knocked on my door. "It's time for dinner!" she said.

"I'm coming." I said in my normal voice this time. I left my room and went to the dining room to find a huge meal on the table. I sat in my normal seat next to Amaniya. She passed me a note that only showed two words in swirly handwriting.

_I know._

I looked back at my food and pretended that nothing happened for the rest of the night. I ended up last again. When I went to my room, I went to sleep and woke up sweating and screaming. They were the same dreams every night, and I woke up at the same time. Normally, I would be able to go back to sleep, but now I'm wide awake.

I got up and took my robe from the hanger and then went up to the roof. Amaniya was there.

"Bad dream?" I asked her. She turned around and nodded, then she turned back to the city.

"I know." she said. I nodded. "I know." I replied. "What exactly do you know again?"

"You've been distracted." she said.

"Yes, I have." I said.

"She's been distracting you. That girl."

"She has I guess... how do you know?" I asked.

"You were staring at her during the reaping. I followed your gaze. She was kind of dramatic there too. Did you notice?" she asked.

"Yeah, I did. It's just that I didn't know that anyone else noticed." I said.

"I know something else too." she said.

"What is that?" I asked.

"You're in love with her." she said.

"What? We're just friends! That's it!" I said. She doesn't look convinced. "I'm serious!"

"Sure." she said. Then, she just left me to my thoughts.

I don't love Annie do I? I looked through all of our memories together. When we met. Her birthday when she fell and I felt awful that whole day from seeing her in pain. When we would talk on the beach for hours on end. During the reaping when her knees gave out from me being chosen. When she came to visit me and she didn't say anything because there was nothing to make the moment better. There's no doubt about it.

I'm in love with Annie Cresta.

**How was that? If you have time, then could you _please _review?! You can use constructive criticism because it will help a lot! XD Until next time!**


	9. Blackness and Private Training Sessions

**Hey guys! Thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows! I've realized that I didn't make Mags Finnick's mentor, so I made the changes on the other chapters... I also wanted to tell you that Amaniya is 16, because I haven't really said that yet... Onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Annie's POV**

The sound of waves crashing into the shore is the first thing that I hear in the morning now. I go to the beach early in the morning when nobody else is awake. It's the only thing that keeps me sane. The water is now the only thing I have that is even close to Finn. Some people hear my screams when nobody- or nothing- can stop them. The first 2 nights, our neighbors would come to see if everything was okay, but learned soon that there was no helping me.

One day though, my mom came into my room.

"Honey, this is crazy. Finnick will come back. He will. He will make himself come out of that arena for you." she said. So many people have said this so I've learned to ignore it. It's this exact same thing every time."I know you're ignoring me. You don't look like you're here." she said waving her hand in front of my face. The corners of my lips turned up slightly. "I think I know." my mom said sighing. I looked at her with confused eyes. "You'll see." Then she left. What is she talking about?

I stayed in my room for a while, gathering up my thoughts. I wonder what she meant. Finally, my bed started to get uncomfortable, so I went to the kitchen and got some fish ready. I ate it quickly and quietly before taking a bath. We have an bucket, just like everyone else has, and got some water. Everyone has to do this if they want to take a bath, but normally we just swim so much, that we don't really have to bathe much.

When I was done, I dumped out the water and changed into a dress that I have. It's torn on the bottom and it's a dull brown color, just like my feelings. I did nothing that day. I just ate, sat, and thought. I thought about the sea, I thought about Finn, but most of all, I thought about what my mom said. What did she mean? What does she think she knows?

As I thought about this, I wondered if it had something to do with what I've been doing lately. It probably does. Is it the _reason_ about what I've been doing lately? Is this about Finnick? I gasped. My dad looked at me from where he was sitting.

"Is something wrong Annie?" he asked me. I shook my head.

"No. I just need some air." I said and went outside. How could this happen? How could I let myself? All of the questions in my head made me light-headed. Before I could think of anything else, I fell down and everything went black.

* * * Finnick's POV * * *

I can't believe it. I'm in love with Annie. Why did Amaniya have to tell me for me to figure it out? It was pretty obvious now that I think about it. How will our friendship work now though? I guess that I'll have to pretend that things are still normal. I'm an awful actor, but I better give it a try... If I even go back home. I sighed.

"Up up up! Get ready!" Lexi said. I rolled my eyes.

"Fine." I said in a dull voice. I got up and went to the shower, pressing all of my normal buttons. When I was done with my shower, I put on the last set of training clothes that I would have to wear. Amaniya was eying me curiously when we were going down the elevator and I looked down at my feet- which made me feel sick because it was glass and we were going down _very _fast. I quickly moved my gaze forward.

When we got to the training center, I went to District 11 and 6 who were already standing next to each other.

"Hey Finnick." The girl from eleven, Nite, said. I looked at her and smiled, it didn't seem to come to my eyes because they all looked at me with sympathetic looks.

"Hey guys." I said.

"Hey..." the others replied in unison, then continued their conversation. They didn't add me into the conversation much, as usual. I wonder if I'm unlikable. I only had about 5 friends other than Annie since I was always with her out of school. The only reason I had _those_ friends is because I would get lonely at school since we were three years apart normally.

As I thought of this, I thought of how important Annie is to me. We've been friends for a long time now. About 3 years now. Wait until the Capital finds out.

Atala started speaking and I ignored it until she started talking about the private training sessions that would happen after lunch. "You will get to choose what you do. You are also aloud to combine some of your talents, but not do two completely different things that don't work together in some way." she said. The bell toned and we went off to our different stations. First I went to wrestling because I haven't been there yet. Throughout the morning, I also went to the edible plants, bow and arrows, knots, knives, axes, and fire stations. All of them, I decided, were the most important to know. Normally, those are the weapons or things that are in the arena, so most people go to those stations.

By the time lunch was done, I was stuck waiting, tapping my foot. At least I'm not from District 12. I would be stuck waiting for 2 hours.

"Hey." said Amaniya as she came to sit next to me. I looked up at her. She was all sweaty and disoriented.

"Hey. Wrestling?" I asked her. She nodded. "Do you know what your going to do?" I asked her.

"Yeah." she said. "You?"

"I think so." I said.

"Finnick Odair." They called after 30 minutes (each tribute got 5 minutes for private sessions). I got up, legs shaking, and walked into the strangely empty room.

I walked into the knots section first. I made a complicated knot that would capture them by just one small movement. When I was done with that, I got a trident and threw a dummy into the trap. I threw the trident after the dummy and hit it right in what would be it's chest. I got about 5 more tridents and threw them into some of the moving dummies after climbing one of the ropes. I didn't miss one. They all looked very impressed. I bowed to them.

"You may go now." someone said. I walked out a door opposite of the one that I walked in.

When I got up to our floor, I went into my room and took a shower, pressing all of the buttons I usually do. After the shower, I changed into something more suitable than my training clothes and sat down on my bed. It seems that thinking about Annie is what keeps me going. She's going to be the one that lets me get home. Whenever I'm about to die, I can think of Annie. I will fight through it for her. Annie will make me _want_ to come back home.

I got up and went into the living room. "Could I have some hot chocolate?" I asked an avox. He nodded and then left. I sat down on one of the couches while I waited. He came back in with the same beverage that I had a couple of days ago. I drank it quickly and asked for another one. I ended up having five mugs of that hot chocolate.

"Fabulous. You're already here." Lexi said in a dull voice as if she wasn't exactly glad that I'm here. Lexi doesn't like me much anymore. She left to go get Amaniya when Mags and Conner showed up behind her. I got up and hugged Mags. We've gotten really close over the years that Annie's brought us together.

We walked to the couch in front of the television and sat down. I was on Mags's right and Conner was on her left. Right when Lexi and Amaniya sat down, the T.V turned on. Wow. Lexi must have her schedule marked down to the second. They showed the people from all of the districts, then their scores.

Alexander (Boy from District 1)- 10

Jade (Girl from District 1)- 9

Artim (Boy from District 2)- 8

Camall (Girl from District 2)- 10

Powell (Boy from District 3)- 7

Mire (Girl from District 3)- 7

When it got to our district, Mags held my hand. I looked down until I heard a lot of cheers.

Finnick - 10

Amaniya - 8

Amaniya hugged me and I hugged back. "Congratulations! That is amazing!" she said.

"Thanks! You too!" I said. When we let go, I saw that she looked a little sad. "What's wrong?" I asked her. She just shook her head, closed her eyes, and forced a smile on her face.

"I'll tell you later." she said. Mags hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. She mumbled something that I think was "Great job" but I'm not sure, for there was too much noise around me to be able to hear. My prep team is here, along with my stylist, Havannah.

"You did fabulous!" Havannah said with a big smile on her face. I gave her one of my famous smiles (at least they were famous at the Capital) and thanked her.

When everyone left after dinner, I took Amaniya aside and we went up to the roof.

"What's up?" I asked her. She sighed.

"You're going to win." she said sadly. I looked at her surprised.

"Why do you say this?" I asked her.

"That girl. You lover her- don't deny it." she added. "You will make yourself win for her. Plus, the Capital loves you. How could the Gamemakers kill you by their mutts? The Capital will probably start an uprising just because of that. There is no way that you won't win the Hunger Games." she said. I'm still a little taken aback by her bluntness.

"You have a chance of winning." I told her, trying to cheer her up. "You can go back too. I won't be able to kill you, so if we're the last two, then you will have an advantage!" I said. She shook her head.

"No. They will kill me with the mutts. They will program them to kill me because the Capital loves you so much. I wonder how many sponsors you have already..." she said thoughtfully. Okay, it's no use. I guess she's right. With my mind of Annie and having Mags and the Capital helping me, I've basically already won the games already. "It's my fault really. I was the one that told you that you loved her. I blame myself..." she said looking down. I sighed.

"Fine. You're probably right." I said looking out at the city. When I looked at her, I saw a tear streaming down her cheek. I hugged her.

"I have someone back home. I have letters for the people I love. When you go home, I would like you to give the letters to them. Don't let anyone else." she said. When I let go of her, I saw that her face was red and puffy now.

"I'll give them the letters." I said. I can't help but feel bad for her. She probably knew who she loved without being told... She had a family back home that are probably crying themselves to sleep. They are probably waking up by nightmares. But so is my family. So is Annie. Poor Almy too. She's only ten right now. I wonder how she's doing...

I took myself out of my thoughts and then look at Amaniya. She looks awful.

"We should get some rest." I said.

"Oh great. Now you sound like Lexi." she joked. I smiled at her.

"Come on." I said before going down the stairs with Amaniya trailing behind me. When we got to my room, I gave her a smile before walking into my room.

That night, I went to sleep thinking only of me going home and seeing Annie again.

**How was that? I hope you like it! If you have time, it would be _really_ nice if you reviewed! Until next time! XD**


	10. Waking, Teaching, and Interviews

**Hey guys! How are you? I hope that you like this chapter! I think it will be a great one!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Annie's POV**

The first thing I heard was a bunch of muffled sobs coming from a woman. I was in immense pain in my left knee. It felt as if someone was stabbing it over and over. It was as if _I_ was in the Hunger Games. Not my best friend.

That wasn't a good thing to think. I started to sob, which made my parents jump a foot in the air since they didn't know I was awake. (I didn't open my eyes yet) When they pulled themselves together, they hugged me. I hugged them tightly and cried my eyes out.

"Annie, what's wrong? What made you faint?" my mom asked softly. I looked up at her. I can tell she already knows. She knows that I know what she meant. **(A/N: Does that make sense?)**

"I had a lot on my mind." I managed to choke out. She nodded and then I buried my head into her neck. My dad looked at us with a confused expression, then left the room, feeling out of place. "Honey, it's okay." she told me soothingly.

"No it's not. How could I let myself? How will I be able to watch the Games when I know that I'm in love with Finnick?" I whispered sadly to her, not wanting my dad to hear. My mom's always been closer to me than my dad. I find things like this awkward with him.

"I know. Honey, you know that you're going to have to watch the Games. You'll have to know." she said. I sighed, knowing it's the truth.

"Why does it have to be like this?" I asked her. My voice is cracking. "Why did it have to be him?"

"There's nothing we can do about it anymore. You have to make the people of the Capital love you during the interviews because he will at _least_ make it to the last eight. Then the Capital can't kill him. The only chance of him dying is from the tributes which he won't let happen because of how much he misses you. He will think of some way to win for you. Which is why you have to watch." my mom said in a stern, powerful voice. And she's right. I'll have to watch them. And I know that he will probably win for me. We've been friends for forever. He saw me during the reaping. He must know that I can't live knowing that he's died.

"Your right. It's just that I didn't want him to go at all. The Capital people are gross too. They faint when he walks in the room! I mean if it will get him sponsors, then it's fine. It's just hard, you know? Having the person that you're in love with being in the Hunger Games and people fainting at his presence. You wouldn't understand." I said. I wish that she could though. It would be easier to get advise.

"No. You're right. I wouldn't understand. I really wish I could though. It would make things so much easier for you if I could give you advise, but right now all that I can say is to push through it and make the Capital love you. If you do that, then he will most likely come home happy." she said.

"Okay. I'll try to pull through." I said. "I can't stay in my hole forever. Finn wouldn't want me to." I said the last part more to myself.

"That's right! Be strong! Try to stop crying, okay? It's kind of making me depressed seeing my daughter being depressed. Seriously." She said.

"Okay. I'll try to not be so depressed. He will make it back, right?" I asked her. I'm still worried about that...

"You know, I want to tell you something, but I would be meddling so much with your life that I can't say. I'm sorry..." My mom trailed off. Great. Now she left me with a question again. I groaned.

"You can't just say that you know something and not tell me! Now I'm left wondering again..." I said, annoyed. "Why can't you tell me?" I asked her.

"I will tell you later if things... don't work out." She said. I look down. "I'm sorry..." she added.

"It's fine." I said to her. "I'll have to get over it. Even if it means... well, you know..." She nodded. "I still wish you would tell me though. Do you know how horrible it is to figure it out yourself when other people know?" I asked her.

"Sorry. I just can't tell you." She said.

"Okay." I said and then I went into my room.

**Finnick's POV**

In the morning, I woke up with the same nightmare as usual. I got up and took a shower pressing the normal buttons that smell like the sea. When I was done, I put on a light green t-shirt and some gray shorts. Today would be the day when Mags and Conner would teach us manners and how we should act during the interview. And I'm not looking forward to it.

I heard some knocking on the door and knew Lexi was waking me up even though I've been up for about an hour.

"Up up up! It will be a busy day!" she said in her stupid, ridiculously cheery voice.

"I'm already up!" I yelled at her, annoyed. I heard her mumbling something about manners as she walked away. When I walked out of my room, I went into the dining room.

Mags walked in and I helped her in her chair and then sat across from her. I piled food on my plate and started to eat when Lexi walked in with Amaniya trailing tiredly behind her. She sat down next to me and put things on her plate without noticing what it is. She ate it quickly without one word. Lexi broke the comfortable silence. Why couldn't she just let us eat in peace?

"Okay! Now once Conner comes, then you will both be trained for the interviews. Pay attention and do what they say." she ordered us.

"Could you just be quiet for one meal?" I asked her. They all looked up at me with wide eyes. "I mean, we know what to do! We aren't young ignorant children! You have to give us _some_ respect!" I said. Lexi looked like she was about to cry.

"Nobody has _ever_ talked to me like that! Mags, you have a _lot_ to teach him!" she said before storming out of the room.

I looked down and started to eat a little, feeling bad.

"Sorry." I mumbled to Amaniya and Mags.

"I don't blame you..." Amaniya said, moving her food around on her plate. I smirked and then took another bite.

"That wasn't very nice guys." Conner said while he walked in.

"Where were you?" I asked him in an angry voice. I just want to get this training over with.

"You don't need to know." he said with the same tone. "Finnick, I'm starting with you. We will decide what angle you want to go with. Amaniya you will go with Mags. She will teach you proper manners and how to walk and other things like that." Conner said.

Mags got up, to Amaniya's hand and then dragged her out of the room. Conner leaned forward and then swapped his irritated expression to a serious one.

"Okay, you will obviously have to be the handsome, sexy, capital person that they expect you to be. You have to be as charming as possible. Your stylist will probably have you in some ridiculously showing outfit, so you won't need to add much of the sexiness. I'll ask them to make sure that you look perfect for your angle." he said.

It was stuff like that for the next couple of hours. Just tiny tips on how I can help look more stunning and he helped me with my smile. They swapped us and Mags took me to the room she was just in.

"What is your angle?" Mags asked.

"I have to be handsome, sexy, and charming." I told her. It must have been clear that I don't like it.

"Sorry, honey. It sure will get you sponsors. Okay, let's see what we can do here..." she said thoughtfully. "Let me see you walk." she said. I walked as tall as I could with a proud look on my face. "Good enough, I guess. How about you try to look like you aren't annoyed." she suggested.

"I look annoyed?" I asked. She nodded.

"Extremely." she said. I walked again and she accepted it this time. "That's good. Now how about sitting down?" she said. I sat down with good enough posture. "You need to sit taller. It makes you look better and more determined." she said.

"Okay." I said. When I sat up straight, she liked it and we discussed how I should act. It would be dull if it wasn't Mags, but she kept it entertaining by teasing me with my angle. I laughed her when she did this and sucked in the facts she gave me.

When we finished, Mags pulled me aside.

"We weren't allowed to speak of anything but the interview, so I have to ask you something now. Do you love Annie?" she asked me. I'm not surprised that she's asking me this. It seems that a lot of people are noticing me yelling in my sleep. They're getting curious.

"Yes." I said looking down, blushing.

"Don't be embarrassed. I noticed a long time ago." she said.

"Oh..."

"Well, I just wanted to know." she said. "When did you find out?"

"Um... A couple of days ago I figured it out. With the help of Amaniya." I said.

"That girl is smart." Mags said. I nodded. "She has someone at home. I feel sorry for her."

"Why is that?" I asked her.

"You're going to win." she said simply.

"Does everyone think that?" I asked her.

"Yes. I don't think that it's possible for you not to win." she said. "Did Amaniya have this conversation with you too?" she asked.

"Yeah. She's really smart..." I said. "The day that we had this conversation, she told me that she was stupid for telling me that I love her."

"Amaniya's right. There's no way that she'll be able to win with you knowing your true feelings and the Capital and me to help you." Mags said.

"I know. That's why I feel bad..." I said.

"Dinner's getting cold!" Lexi chirped to us. With that, we went into the dining room and ate in silence and Lexi didn't break it this time.

When I woke up, I did the normal morning routine, but when I got to the dining room, I saw our stylists sitting there, chatting excitedly. I went and sat down in my normal spot.

"Hey. What are you talking about?" I asked them.

"Your wonderful outfits for the interviews! I think they will be perfect for both of your angles!" Grane, Amaniya's stylist said.

"Oh. Can you tell me what they will be?" I asked them. They both shook their heads 'no'.

"That would ruin the surprise!" Havannah said. I rolled my eyes and started to eat my eggs.

When Mags walked into the room, I hugged her and helped her to her seat opposite me before going back to my plate.

Lexi was there, but she was quiet the whole time. I finally noticed her when she got up to make Amaniya and Conner wake up. She was wearing a bright pink dress with diamonds all over the bottom of it. It was awful.

Amaniya walked in, still looking tired, and sat down beside me. "Hey." she said. She has bags under her eyes and her hair was just a big clump full of knots on her head.

"Hey." I said and gave her a smile. She smiled back at me and then turned to her food. I wish that she wasn't with the Careers. They'll probably use her to get to me. My score was probably too high for them.

When breakfast was finished, our stylists took us away to make the prep team 'make us pretty'. After they were done with that, Havannah gave me my outfit.

I looked at it and rolled my eyes. I guess that it's not _too_ bad. It doesn't have a shirt though. It's just a pair of torn jeans and some accessories that includes a trident and a crown. I sighed and put it on. I looked in the mirror and saw that I didn't look that bad. I guess that the Capital will love me then. I wonder how Annie will like it... I'm stupid. Why am I thinking this?

"Come on Finnick or else we'll be late!" Havannah said. I walked out and the stylists sighed- and so did Lexi?! Ew! Amaniya was standing there too, but she was wearing an outfit that made her look similar to a mermaid, a creature that the Capital made up that's supposed to be half person, half fish. Oh their ignorance...

"Hey..." she said.

"Hey." I said back. She seemed awkward. Both of us aren't covered all the way. The lower part of her stomach was showing and, well, I wasn't even wearing a shirt. She must be _much_ more uncomfortable than I am. We walked into the elevator and Lexi pressed on the correct button that would take us to the stage.

When we got there, Districts 1-5 were already there- excluding us of course. We waited for the last of the Districts to come and right when 12 got there, Caesar just started talking.

"Welcome to the interviews for the 65th annual Hunger Games!" he said. "Now, we have quite a show for you tonight! First welcome Jade, from District 1!" There was a huge applaud while she walked up on the stage.

I watched intently until they called Amaniya's name. I gave her a reassuring smile and she walked up on the stage.

"Hey Caesar! How are you?" she asked sweetly.

"I'm wonderful! Only the real question is, how are _you_? What are your thoughts?" he asked her.

"You know, I'm fine! I'll do my best and work my hardest to win!" she said. The Capital seemed to love her sweetness.

"What do you think you have in store for us?" he asked her.

"Well, I guess that you'll just have to see!" she said. After a couple more things like this, she left the stage and they were calling my name. When they saw me, the Capital went wild.

I shook hands with Caesar and gave him one of my supposedly extremely handsome smiles.

"Hello Finnick! How are you liking the Capital so far?" he asked. Everyone in the audience leaned forward to hear his answer.

"I love it! It's wonderful! Everything- and everyone- is stunning!" I said. I'm choosing my words very carefully, keeping in mind both the Capital and Annie.

"Are you excited for the Games?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess." I said. I was now trying to really hard to control my happiness. "I'm excited to see what the arena will be like, I must admit." I said smiling at the Capital. Caesar nodded.

"I can't disagree." he said, smiling. "Now, let me ask, do you have a girlfriend at home? Surely someone as handsome as you have someone!" he said.

"Well," I said uncomfortably. "There's this girl, and we've been friends for forever, only I'm sure she doesn't like me like that."

"Oh come on! She might! If you win, I'm sure that it will work!" he said encouragingly.

"Yeah... maybe." I said and with that the buzzer went off.

"Finnick Odair!" he yelled to the audience. I gave them one last, big smile and then walked off the stage.

**How was that? Please review! It would be very kind!** **I hope you liked this chapter! Until next time!**


	11. A Story

**Hello everyone! Thank you so much for your reviews! I appreciate them so much! I really hope you like this chapter! On with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Annie's POV**

What did he mean? Who was he talking about? He said that she was his best friend for a long time... I can't think of anyone else he could be talking about. Finn was always spending all of his spare time with me. But... how could he like me? We've been friends for so long... but I like him too, so why am I freaking out? Maybe it's because I know that it won't work. Or maybe I need some encouragement from somebody.

My heart is beating extremely fast now. It seemed that the air became ten times more thin than it was before. I started to see stars around me. I heard a ringing in my ears.

"Annie?" my mom said looking at me. My eye sight was getting blurry and I was dizzy even though I was sitting down. "Annie." she said a little louder. I shook my head and took a deep breath. Now I'm more in control, but not all the way. "Annie." she said for the last time and then hugged me. I looked around and my dad looked completely lost.

"Will somebody tell me what's happening?" he asked. We both looked at him. There was an awkward silence for a second. When these occur, I tend to laugh uncontrollably. My mom looked at me and I nodded in between my loud barks of laughter. She sighed.

"Annie loves Finnick..." she said awkwardly. His eyes got wider as realization hit.

"That explains so much..." he said. I stopped laughing and then I rolled my eyes at his ignorance, but smiled.

"Annie, he pretty much admitted that he likes you too." my mom said. "I can tell that he likes you anyway." she added matter-of-factly.

"Really? I didn't notice. Now that I think about it, you could really tell that I like him..." I said, thinking about our old memories, eyes getting big.

"He didn't notice. But both of you were so obvious, Annie. Remember when you fell down in that cave a long time ago?" she asked. I nodded. "He wouldn't leave your side until his mom made him go home, Honey." I raised my eyes. I didn't know that...

"Really?" I said thoughtfully. "Huh. I didn't know that... You see, if people just told me then, then my life now wouldn't be so hard! Well, it would still be the same probably, but you know what I mean."

She nodded. "And remember when you would always wear something nice when he came over?" she asked me. I nodded. "Well, I guess that it was obvious even then that you liked him. Even when you were ten."

Now I was just getting dizzy. So much stuff has happened in the last thirty minutes. I just learned that my best friend that I loved was also in love with me. I also just learned how obvious both of us were. We were sometimes awkward when we were watching the sunset. I guess that the scene was sort of romantic, so now I know why I was always laughing during it... Stupid laughter. It totally ruins the moment.

"So... this changes things." I mumbled to myself. My mother nodded. "How long were you waiting for me to figure this out?" I asked her.

"About two years now..." she said immediately. I guess that she was counting down to this moment.

I turned back to the television/projector to see that they've gotten to District 7.

* * * Finnick's POV * * *

I ran my hand through my now clean hair, just realizing that I admitted that I was in love with my best friend on my interview. The Capital won't like it, but I bet they'll overlook it soon. Just like they do with everything else. That's all that they do. If they don't like something, in their minds they change it.

When I went into the elevator, Conner took my arm and pulled me away.

"_What _was that?" he asked, clearly annoyed.

"I just admitted to the world that I'm in love with my best friend." I replied bluntly before I turned around and went back onto the elevator that took me to our floor. He stood there, mouth open in protest, but couldn't say anything because I already left. I'm in so much trouble... Unless I die... then at least Annie would know.

But if I live...

Things will be a _little_ complicated if I live. What with me saying I'm in love with her and all... Yeah. It will definitely be complicated. If she doesn't love me that is. Yes. That would be very awkward...

I got up and got some hot chocolate and started pacing just like I did that first day at the Capital.

"Hey Finnick." a familiar voice said from behind me. I nodded my head in greeting to Amaniya, who was standing awkwardly at the door frame, before going back to pacing. "You're thinking about her." she said. It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"Yes, I am." I said.

"I hear you screaming her name at night, you know. It's kind of depressing." she said. I looked up at her and furrowed my eyebrows before turning it down once more. "I think you should talk to someone." she said. "Mags, anyone really. Okay, you would probably only be comfortable with Mags, but you're welcome to talk to me. You don't want the stress to take over that pretty face of yours." she teased with a smile.

I finally stopped pacing and then sat down on the couch, head in hands. "Do you know how it feels?" I asked her. She nodded, suddenly serious.

"Do you want to hear a story?" she asked.

"Sure." I said and nodded. She took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Okay. Here goes." she said, looking nervous. "Uh... where to start... Okay, well, when I was 5, my dad drowned. I cried for days. Nobody could help me and I would have nightmares every night about him dying. It was awful." she paused and looked down at her hands. "Then I met him." she smiled slightly. "His name was Jason Mardson. He was stunning. Jason was the nicest person on the planet as well. Eventually, I realized that he was more than a friend. He realized too and we started dating when we were both 14." she said. Now her smile was starting to fade. I can tell something bad happened and wasn't excited to see what it was.

"We didn't get to for very long though." she said. Then she closed her eyes as if to hide back tears. "He drowned. Common in District 4. It happened one and a half years ago. I spent about a month mourning over him. I didn't do anything. I just stared at the wall and only ate if my mom forced some food down my throat. I didn't feel the need to breathe. He was the air to my planet." she said as her breathing became more shallow and some tears started to sprout from her eyes.

"Learning this, I went down to the beach one day, ready to die by drowning like he did. I was worse this time than I was when my dad died. I loved him." she breathed the last part, clearly unable to find her real voice. "But then, I met someone else on the beach. He seemed to notice what I was doing and saved my life." she said now trying harder to control herself. "Right when I started to struggle in the water, he jumped in and saved me. _His_ name was Kyle. He was almost a reincarnated version on Jason." she smiled a little. "I felt guilty at first because it felt like I was replacing him with himself. It was a weird feeling.

"I was 15 and he was 16 when we started dating. He makes me feel full. I look into his eyes and see them full of love. We're still dating now, but probably not for long... well, you know why." she said looking at her feet awkwardly. "I can always tell when you're thinking of that girl-"

"Annie." I interrupted her. She deserves to know her name at least if she was going to die.

"I can always tell when you're thinking of _Annie_, because you have the same eyes as Kyle when he looks at me. It's the same exact way..." she said.

"Do you want to be my ally?" I blurted out. "I mean, I know that you're already with the Careers, but they will only use you to get to me. I've seen them during training. Once you help them find me, you're dead. We could probably go far."

She thought for a second then seemed to find a decision. "Yeah. I think that would work. But I can't tell them about it. I'll just act like I'm still with them, but then I'll work with you when we're here. During the Games we'll have to find each other though. Without the Careers noticing I'm gone." she said thoughtfully. We sat for a minute thinking when she figured it out. "I know! There will probably be trees since it's boring for the Capital without them, so go about a mile into the forest in the direction I point you on the plates with my eyes." she said. She looked a little excited.

"Finnick." she blurted out. I looked up at her. "When I die and when you live, I want you to make sure that Kyle doesn't kill himself. He's very creative. He will come up with a way. I know it, but please try as _hard_ as you possibly can to keep him from killing himself. He's smart, but he would give up probably depending on how horrible my death is." she said with a shaky voice. "Promise me that you'll make him live. Promise me, please." she begged. I couldn't say no when I saw the desperate look in her eye.

"I promise." I told her. She put on a watery smile and thanked me before leaving.

A lot just happened. Amaniya just told me her story and then we became allies. Wow. That's a lot to take in. Let alone me promising her that I would keep her boyfriend that saved _her _life from taking away _his _life. That's a lot of things happening in the last thirty minutes. Still out of all those things to think about, instead I think of Annie. She's all that I can think about now. It gets annoying sometimes when I should be thinking about me facing my death this week, but nooo, that's too much for my brain, so instead I think of my best friend that I'm in love with. I guess that I'm not complaining though.

**So... How was that? I don't think it's my favorite, but it was still pretty good, right? Please review! They all mean a lot to me! Until next time! :{D Mustache! Yay! BYE!**


	12. Into The Arena

**Hello! How are you guys today? I hope you liked the last chapter! Thank you for the nice reviews, favorites, and alerts! And just reading this in the first place! I'm really excited for this one! I've finally gotten to 20,000 words! Yay! Could you please get me to 20 reviews for this? I felt like Onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Finnick's POV**

*knock knock knock*

I heard the tapping on my door and threw my pillow at it. Today's the day. Today's the day that I might die. Today's the day that I will fight to the death to get back to Annie. Shivers went down my spine at that thought. Hopefully the sponsors have forgotten about me falling in love with my friend. It sure would help if they did.

"Get up! It's going to be a busy day!" Lexi chirped. I groaned and then got up to take one last shower to my liking. And if I'm going to be in the Arena at noon, then I'll want to be as clean as possible. Everyone at home knows that I don't look very good if I don't take a shower or swim after a while.

When I got out, I walked into the dining room. Amaniya was sitting there already with tear stained, puffy cheeks. I went over to my seat next to her and squeezed her hand and smiled at her. She smiled back at me when Mags walked into the room. She smiled when I got up and hugged her and she mumbled something that I didn't quite catch.

"What was that?" I asked softly as we were walking back to the full table.

"Don't get too cocky in the Games. And remember Annie when you lose all hope." she mumbled again. I smiled and nodded so she knew I heard her. We sat down across from each other and started to plate our food. I put mainly fruit and vegetables on my plate because I knew that I would mostly be eating plants since I'm better at plants than hunting. Unless there's a trident.

"Okay! Are you guys excited?!" Lexi squeaked excitedly as she walked in with the stylists, prep teams, and Conner trailing behind her. Amaniya and I both glared at her, if looks could kill, she would be dead. "What?" she asked. I rolled my eyes at her stupidity and then got back to my meal ignoring her.

"You know what? I _am_ excited to face my painful, horrible death. I think that would just _make my day_!" Amaniya said sarcastically. We all looked at her, Lexi with pity, but the rest in surprise. She doesn't normally talk, so this is a big surprise. "_What?_ She should know better than to think we're excited about this! Admit it Finnick! Isn't she being stupid?!" she said turning the attention to me.

"I guess, but I would never admit it. Thanks for turning the attention to me!" I told her the last part sarcastically.

"You're welcome." she said looking serious.

"Be nice." Conner said sternly. I glared at him and he went back to his food.

When we finished eating, the prep teams took us away to get us ready to die. They were in crazy colors that should never be worn together. It was all orange and a dark red/brown color. I guessed that they were trying to match for the screens.

Right when we got into the dull room they reserved for us, the three girls took off my shirt. I rolled my eyes as they practically drooled over me. I sighed.

"Could you hand me the shirt?" I asked them taking the people from the Capital out of their trance. They all sighed in disapproval, but still got the green shirt and jacket out of a plastic bag. The jacket was light, but it seemed to make me a lot warmer when I put it on. They gave me my khaki shorts and I put them on and found there to be a lot of pockets in them.

After I was ready, my prep team escorted me out of the room to go up to the roof. I left them immediately to go and meet Amaniya who was standing in the middle of the roof looking around at the city. She turned and smiled at me but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Nervous?" I asked her. She nodded in response.

"Who isn't though? The only person who should feel even close to safe is you." she said.

"You're probably right." I said. "Hey, what's your token? From District 4 I mean."

"Um... I brought a bracelet." she said looking nervous. I looked at her suspiciously.

"No you didn't." I replied. Her eyes grew wide.

"Yes I did." she said.

"You're a terrible liar." I told her. She sighed in defeat.

"Fine. I... I'll tell you later." she said blushing. I raised my eyebrows at her as she looked down at the ground. I couldn't bring myself to say anything else though. She seemed really sad about something.

"What's wrong?" I asked right when some hovercrafts came over and they made us go on them. Great. Ruining the moment.

They walked over to me and inserted something into my arm. I watched them with my eyes narrowed, not trusting them. The girl next to me, that happened to be Nite, finally asked them what it was.

"It's your tracker. So we know where you are." one of the woman said. _Obviously_, I thought when she said the last sentence.

Nobody else spoke the rest of the time on the hovercraft. Everybody was tense, even Nite, who would always be happy and bouncing around the training center. Maybe she actually realized that it was time to get serious. I guess that everyone has. Even the Careers looked a little uncomfortable. I glared at them, including Amaniya so that we could play the part. They shifted under my gaze. On the inside, I was laughing my head off at how scared they were of me, on the outside, I was glaring holes into their heads.

The hovercraft slowed down and the door opened, letting us out one at a time. The stylists were to pick us up and take us to the tube that takes us to the Arena. They would be the last ones we see before we ?are forced to kill each other. My insides flipped. I might be a murderer by the end of today... Will Annie think bad of me if I come home after killing someone? What about my parents and Almy? They will probably be disappointed with me. But they are my life. And Annie told me to live, so if I have to... kill, I forced the word into my mind, then she will forgive me. Hopefully...

Someone tapped my shoulder and I looked up to see Amaniya looking at me like I'm crazy. I shook my head.

"Sorry. Ready?" I asked her. She shook her head back.

"No, but I doubt that any of us are." she said. I nodded. "Let's go." she said pulling me out of the hovercraft.

Havannah took over from there and we went to the launch room together.

"Any ideas on how the Arena will be?" I asked. She nodded.

"It will probably be warm, which you're used to. I think it might rain a lot because of the jacket. So, sounds like it will be close to a rain forest." Havannah said.

"Okay, thanks." I said before drinking some of the water that the Capital provided.

"_You will have the next ten seconds to enter the launch pad. Ten, nine_..." A robotic woman's voice said from the speakers. I walked up to the pad immediately, not worrying much that I might die in the next ten minutes. "_Eight, seven, six..._" It continued. My heart started to leap at a rapid pace, finally realizing what crazy thing I'm doing. "_Five, four, three..._" Almost there... "_Two, one._" Then a sound-proof tube went over me and I was slowly starting to go into the arena.

**Hey everyone! I hope that you liked that chapter! I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while... Anyway, if you like it, please review! If you don't... Please review anyway, only with constructive criticism! Until next time! :)**


	13. The Arena and An Alliance

**Hello my wonderful readers! I've just lost my best friend, so now I have no social life and I can write whenever I want! Yay! Isn't it great to lose your best friend so that instead you could use the time that you wasted with them for your writing! And we've been friends since kindergarten I might add! Sorry. I'm just a little upset... you might know why.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Annie's POV**

It's happened. They have gone up. The person that I'm in love with is in the Arena, likely to die. He has a one in twenty four chance at winning. I hope that his death is nice and calm. Nobody torturing him or anything. Like a poisoning. Not blood poisoning though. Food poisoning. Yes. I think that would be the best way to die. Fast and easy. No pain.

"Annie. I know what you're thinking. He will live." my mother whispered to me. She's lying. I know she's lying. Finnick is capable and stuff, but I don't think that he would really _want_ to kill anyone. That will probably be his biggest weakness. Not wanting to.

Just 50 more seconds now until they can move. Finn's parents are here because they know that I'm in as much pain as they are. Almy is sitting next to me, holding on my hand for dear life as she watches her big brother prepare in a killing match set up for the Capital's entertainment. Most people would freak out if I said that, but where I am, the people around me would nod along without thinking. So with that thought in my head, I start to say my thoughts. I just can't seem to hold them in any longer.

"Stupid Capital. They do this just for their amusement. They _like_ to watch people bleed to death. They don't turn around when they show all of the gore and blood while people are being tortured. I hate it." I said, spitting the words out venomously. Everyone looked at me. "What? We're all thinking it! And you know it too! It's stupid and barbaric. If anyone doesn't agree with me, then you should leave." My parents looked at me with a weird expression on their faces as if they thought that I was crazy.

"Honey, I think that you're going a little crazy with stress. I'll make some tea." My mom said. I sighed at them.

"I am _not_ going crazy. I'm just upset that my best friend," I said the last part, looking at my mom directly. "is going to die soon probably and there is nothing that I can do about it. Would that bother _you_?" I asked.

"I'm not answering that. Now look at the screen. They're at ten seconds already." my mother said before turning on the stove and getting the tea ready. I huffed and looked up at the screen to see Amaniya gesturing toward a jungle on one side to Finnick with her eyes. He nodded and looked over at the supplies that the Cornucopia holds. _Don't go too far in_, I told him with what I hoped was telepathy. I really hope he heard. I _really_ do.

"Three, two, one!" The announcer said, excited for the Games to start. At this moment, all that I want is to rip his head off. I hope that somebody one day will have the guts to actually do it.

*** Finnick's POV ***

I run to the Cornucopia immediately, grabbing two bags before turning and running into the jungle that Amaniya motioned to. She had already disappeared into the trees before I even grabbed the first bag. All that I could wish for right now is that I'm going the right way. And that Annie isn't freaking out at home. And Almy. Poor Almy. She's so young and she has to grow up with the sight of her older brother dying a probably painful death since the other tributes will want to prove that they can take a ten. I kept running though. I can't let thoughts like this stop me.

Once I got to about a mile, like we planned, I stopped and looked around for Amaniya. She'll probably be close. I quietly looked around until I heard a branch crack. Someone's out there. I looked around in the trees and saw someone from District 7 who has a knife and a backpack. She had blonde hair and looked a little insane. But that's what the Hunger Games does. It drives people insane. Across from her, was a curled up figure lying on the ground. Amaniya. Oh no. Without a second thought, the girl threw the knife at her and it landed in her stomach. Then she left without taking the knife.

I ran to her and took out the knife. "Amaniya. You're gonna be okay. You'll be okay." I said more to myself than to her. She smiled up at me. I held her hand.

"The letters are under my dresser." she whispered so that the speakers couldn't catch her voice. "Send them to my family and friends. Finnick." she said a little more loudly. "You _must_ win." she said and I nodded.

"Don't worry. I will." I said back. Then the cannon went off.

*** After Crying My Eyes Out (As in ME. Not Finnick...) ***

I walked on through the forest so that the hovercraft could take away her body. The fact that Amaniya just died hasn't really hit me yet. When the cannon hit, it felt like I wasn't really there. Like it was someone else' brain in my body. Like someone was taking over.

When I got about two miles into the jungle, I climbed up a tree and looked in my packs. In one, there was dried fruit, an empty water bottle, matches, and crackers. In the other one, there was a sleeping bag, more dried fruit, jerky, some water purifier, and two knives. I guess that's pretty good. I wonder how long this Hunger Games will be...

_Crack!_

I looked around me and hid the best I could in my tree. There was a bunch of laughter coming from my right. The Careers. My heart beat picks up, but I breathe slowly and quietly so that they can't tell that I'm here. They seemed to be making fun of someone's death. I had to hold my self back from punching them all where it hurts. **( A/N: ;) )** Then the bombs started to go off.

I counted 13. That's a lot. And Amaniya. So that's 14 dead already. I only have to kill 9 people and the Careers will probably get to a lot of them, so I might get to the end. And I actually might have a chance to see my family again. I have a ten percent chance of going home! I smiled and then relaxed a little. I might complete my promise to Amaniya. I might be able to see my family. I might be able to see Annie. This thought makes me smile even wider and confidence fills my whole body.

Once the Careers leave, I cut some branches and start to weave a net. I make sure that it's strong enough to hold a body and then put it on the ground and camouflage it with some leaves and twigs. There. Now, hopefully, I can catch someone and... I shudder. _Kill _them. That doesn't sound right. It sounds like I'm a monster. But I've promised about five people now that I'd win. I _need_ to win. For Almy. For my parents. For Amaniya. For Annie.

With that in mind, I made five more nets and hid them in places and thought over and over again about signature things that I found in the area. First tree, red plant, colored water, big flower, thick roots and biggest tree. Once I was satisfied, I went over to the 'first tree', climbed up it and went to sleep.

In the morning, I was awoken by a scream near me. I looked over at my trap and found the girl who killed Amaniya in it. After taking my knife, I threw it at her without thinking. Her sobs and cries for help stopped immediately and I took my knife and two packs before running to the 'biggest tree'. I feel guilt after a couple of seconds of being there. Sure she killed Amaniya, but nobody deserves to die. Okay, well maybe the blood-thirsty Careers, but other than them, nobody deserves to die.

_Beep, beep, beep!_

I looked up and found a parachute with something tied onto it. I grabbed it and found a trident. My eyes widened about twice the size they were before. It was completely golden with three prongs. This single thing holds my life. I shook my head and climbed up the tree and made another trap to put next to a river that I found earlier. I heard another scream. This one coming from the 'big flower'. I ran over to it and threw my trident at the person without thinking so that I wouldn't feel too bad about what I'm doing. The cannon fired as I took my trident out of the District 3 boy.

Then I remembered. What if District 6 or 11 gets stuck in my trap? The people that I've come to know and enjoy. I wish that I looked to see who died earlier so that I would know. If I kill them, then I'll just live with guilt for the rest of my life. I sighed. From now on I'll have to pay attention to those.

*Another Scream*

My head went up and I ran to where the scream was coming from, trident in hand. I walked to the thick roots and found Nite. I sprinted to her and undid the net to help her out. She smiled in relief and hugged me.

"Thank you so much! Do you know who's net that was?" she asked. Then her eyes traveled down to my trident. "It was yours, wasn't it?" she said with a frown. I nodded. She sighed. "It's fine. We need to leave." she stated.

"Yeah we do. Come with me. My camp is over here. Can you climb?" I asked her. She nodded and followed me to the tree.

"How many people have you killed?" she asked.

"Two." I said sadly. "You?" I asked.

"Only one. Just out of self defense though." she said. "What about that girl from your district? Do you know what happened to her? I saw that she died, but I don't know how."

"Oh... um... the girl from District 7 killed her. She threw a knife in her stomach and ran for it." I said. It hurts a lot more to say it than I thought it would.

"Sorry. You had an alliance with her, correct? That's why you killed the girl." Nite said. I look at her.

"How do you know that I killed her? That happened this morning." I said.

"Oh. I was on a tree next to yours. I only saw you taking your knife out of her and leaving though." she said. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Can I ask you a question?" I said. She smirked at me.

"You already asked me one." she stated. I chuckled at her 'joke'. "Yeah. Sure. What is it?" she asked more seriously.

"Am I likeable?" I asked her quietly. She laughed loudly. "I only had like, six friends at school and you guys wouldn't really talk to me much, so I'm curious." I said.

"I'm not exactly sure how to answer that, Finnick. We barely know anything about you." she said. I nod my head.

"That's because you never added me into the conversation." I stated. She nodded.

"Very true. You just always seemed deep in thought. You also looked a little sad. It was like you were somewhere else." she said.

"Maybe you're right." I said. She smiled at me and I heard another scream. Her smile immediately turned into a frown. "You don't have to come." I said while I was grabbing my trident and climbing down.

"I won't." she said. "I'll hide in the tree."

I ran into the jungle to where the colored water was and found a Career in my trap. I let them scream a little so that the rest of them would come to help before throwing my trident at them. She died with the cannon and I hid behind a tree nearby. Soon they will come to get revenge if they recognized each others screams.

"Jade!" I heard a boy scream. I looked around and saw him go up to the trap. He observed her and the three stabs from the prongs. "Guys! I think it was four!" he said. The other Careers ran up from where the boy, Alexander I think it was, came from. "Look. Three marks. A trident."

"It could have been a spear." the, now, only girl said.

"No. I saw him during training. He was awful." the other kid from 2 said. _Well thanks_, I thought to myself sarcastically.

"It could have been someone else too." the girl said. Alexander shook his head.

"It looks a lot like trident marks. He's probably hiding behind a tree right now, listening to us." he said.

"No he's not. He's probably to coward to face us. He just wants to trap us and make us vulnerable so that it's easy for him." the other boy said.

_Beep, beep, beep!_

A parachute. For me. _Perfect_ timing. Thanks _so _much, Capital. No. I bet that Conner was trying to spice things up. I groaned quietly.

"Yes he is." Alexander said, smirking.

**Ha ha! Cliffy! Enjoy planning to see what will happen! He he he! I feel evil! Please review! It will make me feel happy! :)**


	14. Craziness and Leaving

**Hey yall! Okay, I won't do that again. I'm still a little depressed, so I'm writing my life away! Fun! Now, you will know what happens! Fun for you! Yay! I'm just going along with what I'm typing without really thinking about it, so it might be a little crazy, weird, or insane. One of those things probably. ~Enjoy**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Annie's POV (That's right. I'm making you wait :) )**

"Annie, calm down. He will be okay, honey. He has his trident." my mother tried to sooth me. It doesn't work and I keep screaming and yelling at the screen. I don't get how they can be so _stupid_. They _want_ our district to win, right? "I'll make you some tea." she said. I groaned.

"TEA DOESN'T HELP EVERYTHING! IT DOESN'T SOLVE ALL OF OUR PROBLEMS!" I yelled at my mom, tears streaming down my face. She just kept walking to make it, so I gave up and watched the screen intently, waiting for Finn to die a horrible, painful death. My mother would always turn to tea when something was wrong. It was either she would make me swim, or she would make me drink tea. It was just stupid to me.

Every emotion related to anger and depression was coursing through my veins. I was angry, depressed (as I said earlier), sad, overwhelmed, stressed, and furious. Why would they send the parachute _now_? How could Mags go through with this? She must not have known about it. Yes. That's probably it. Mags and Finn are best friends. She would never try to kill him. If anything, she would help him in a moment like this.

But what was in the parachute? Finnick never opened it... Now he has other things to think about. Yeah. He should be thinking of more important things. Just like me. Why am I curious about the stupid parachute? I should be freaking out about Finn.

His parents are here, along with Almy. They all tried to calm me, but it isn't working. My dad just stayed silent the whole time. My father knows when I'm okay and when I'm not, so he probably just doesn't want to get involved with his daughter's drama. I don't really blame him though. I'm known for being over-dramatic apparently.

Nothing has happened on the screen yet. The Careers are just looking around and taunting him. Right when I was going to yell at the screen again, there was a high screech from the back of the room. I turn around and see my mom pouring out the tea. When she gave it to me, I didn't wait for it to cool down. I just drank half of it in one gulp and then put it down. I felt the sensation of the tea traveling through my veins and the warmth spreading through me. That's the only thing that can distract me from what's happening right now. The only thing that can distract me from my best friend, who I love, who is about to die.

*** Finnick's POV ***

I froze where I was standing as they were looking for me. When they're looking away, I can get them with my trident. Yes, I think that's the best thing that I can do.

I get my trident ready and wait for the perfect moment to make my move. They're looking about 7 feet away from me, and this is the second that I must move. I sprinted, 'slowly' as Annie used to call it, and threw my trident at Alexander first, leaving three deep marks in his stomach, going through his back. There was a pool of blood coming out of him, and fast. I took out my trident before anyone even noticed what happened and then I threw it at the girl from 2, Camall I think it was. The boy from 2 was already gone by the time that I was done with her. They both cried and screamed for a couple of seconds before going silent. Two cannons shot and I ran out with my trident and the parachute to the tree where Nite was waiting for me. I climbed up and saw her sitting up against the tree, looking worried.

"What happened?" she asked me. I sat down on a branch next to the one she was sitting on and sighed quietly.

"Let's just say that there's only one Career left." I told her. She gasped at my words and covered her mouth.

"How did you get them all?" she asked me once she was breathing normally again. I relaxed and got comfortable into the tree as I began my story.

"The girl from one, Jade, got caught by my trap and I wanted to get all of the Careers, so I let her scream before I killed her. The rest came and I hid behind a tree. They were arguing for a couple of minutes about who killed her when a parachute started to come toward me." I said. Then I picked my head up from where it was rested on the tree. "That reminds me! I had my parachute!" I got up and opened my parachute to find some warm soup with pieces of fish in it in a tin container. I smiled. It's been so long since I'm had fish.

"What is it?" Nite asked, looking over my shoulder. She wrinkled her nose. "Ew. Fish soup." she said and I gaped at her.

"You don't like fish?" I asked her incredulously. I can't believe she doesn't like fish. She wrinkled her nose even more and shook her head. "Whatever. More for me!" I said and then started to eat it.

"You haven't finished the story yet. I still want to know." she said.

"Oh. Right. So anyway, now they knew that I was there and started to look for me. When they were turned away, I got the two tens. The other one is out there somewhere, but he's just an 8." I said. "Oh. What were you ranked?" I asked her curiously.

"I was ranked 7." she said proudly. I smiled at her.

"Good! Hey, um, do you know what happened to the others? I mean district 11 and your district partner?" I asked her. She nodded sadly.

"Yeah. They all died during the blood bath." she said, looking at her hands sadly. I frowned. 14 people died during the blood bath, then I killed 4 people. Now there's only 6 people left.

"Nite. There's only 6 people left. We should probably split up in the morning." I told her. She sighed and nodded.

"You're right. This will be a fast Games, won't it?" she asked. I nodded.

"Fast and bloody." I added. "In some ways, that's a good thing." I said.

"I guess... it depends on who you are." Nite says. A strong wind passes over and she starts to shiver. I take out my sleeping bag and give it to her. She shakes her head, but I ignore her and set it up anyway.

"You might want this." I told her, giving her some dried fruit along with the sleeping bag. "You can take both of them tomorrow. Be careful Nite." I told her before sitting back on my branch and getting ready to go to sleep.

"Thank you." she whispered.

"Anytime." I said before dozing off into sleep.

*** Dream ***

"FINNICK! FINNICK, HELP ME!" Annie screamed. I couldn't see her, but I kept looking around the endless forest that I was in.

"ANNIE!" I yelled trying to find her. Then I turned a corner and saw her laying on the ground with a trident stuck in her stomach. _My_ trident. I ran over to her and took it out, looking at the wound. She was sobbing now.

"What did you do?" she asked quietly. "Why did you do this to me?" I shook my head.

"I didn't do this." I told her. "I didn't Annie. I swear I didn't."

"Yes you did. It was your fault. Why did you do this to me?" she sobbed. I was started to get hysterical. I know I didn't do this. I _know _it. "What did you do?" she asked. I hugged her. "How could you do this to me?" she kept on asking.

"I didn't do it Annie." I whispered into her hair. "I didn't do it." I said before her sobs stopped. "Annie?" I asked. "Annie! Annie!" I said, checking her pulse. Nothing. "Annie! No. Annie, no. Come on." I said.

*** End Of Dream ***

I woke up by someone shaking me awake. I opened my eyes to see Nite standing over me. I jumped and then shook my head.

"Finnick. You were talking in your sleep. I thought I should wake you." she told me. I nodded. That was one of my worst dreams so far. Every night I would have one, but this was worse than normal. Most of them just show her dying quickly, but this one, she was dying slowly and telling me that I was the one that killed her. Yes. That one was definitely the worst. "Anyway, I should probably leave." Nite said.

"You're right. You should probably leave. I hope that it isn't us for the last two..." I said.

"Me too... Well thank you for the food and sleeping bag." she said and started to climb down the tree. "Oh, and if I don't go home, I hope you do. And you _are_ likable, by the way." she added with a smirk as she turned around and left the tree.

**Another chapter! I hope that you enjoyed it! PLEASE review! If I get... hm, let's see... I know! If I get 4 reviews, then I will put up another chapter either tomorrow, or on Saterday! Does that sound fair?**


	15. Out of the Games

**I am SO sorry! I got my laptop taken away and I started writing RIGHT when the two weeks were over. PLEASE BELIEVE ME! I also had MAJOR writers block after it, so this chapter took a long time to write.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Finnick's POV**

It's a lot more lonely without Nite here. A lot more quiet. I wish that we didn't have to part ways like this. That we had to just because we didn't want to kill each other in the end. Hopefully we won't. But I guess that I'm wishing that someone kills my friend before I have to. Wrong. That's what this whole thing is. Wrong. But we can't say it or else the Capital will get our families.

A scream. I hear a scream. Who is it? It sounds like a girl. Like a thirteen year old girl. Like Nite. I ran all the way to where the scream was coming from. _Boom. _Nite is dead. There are only three people alive in the arena. The District 5 girl was running away with a spear in her hand and I threw my trident at her. The three prongs went threw her back and I heard the disgusting cracking noise which normally means she's dead. _Boom_. The cannon went off. There's only one last person until I get to go home. Until I get to see Annie. Hope ran through my veins at the thought of getting home.

The hope vanished when I realized that the finale must be coming up. That's the worst part of the whole Games because you never know what to expect. You never know what they will give you. And it's always something deadly that will draw us together. Now we just have to wait to see what it is.

_Crash!_

I looked around to find where the sound was coming from, but I couldn't see anything. Then I heard a huge roar. Like a roar of fire. Oh. No. I got up and ran as fast as I could to what I hoped was the east. The artificial sun was almost down and that was the Gamemaker's favorite time to do this.

I ran away from the fire as quick as my feet could take me and fell down. The roots from a tree made a deep cut in my arm, but I ignored it and kept on running. And running. And running. A tree on my left fell down. I turned right.

Out of nowhere, fire balls started coming down. They were like huge asteroids coming down on Earth. I kept on running. And running. And running. One hit my left arm. I winced, but I kept on moving. Don't let a burn get in the way of seeing Annie again. It's just a tiny injury. Nothing to worry about. But it _is_ something to worry about. It feels like I'm getting burned alive. Which I practically am. The amount of pain in my body is immense and I can barely move my legs because of the pain, even though it's in my arm. I guess that it helps that I'm a little shocked, but it doesn't help much.

Finally, I see a clearing where I'm guessing the Cornucopia is. I climb in and immediately wish I hadn't because I just realized that it will be incredibly hot once the fire reaches it. My best hope is for the other tribute to die before me. Which is a very bad thought to have in my mind. I really wish that we didn't have to die. The Hunger Games would be much easier to win, I guess. Some day, I hope that someone changes this.

*** Annie's POV ***

Finnick has almost won the Hunger Games. So close. The district 5 boy was horribly injured already without the fire. Now he also has burns along with the other things. Finn is definitely holding up better than the boy. His name, if I remember correctly, is Liam. Hopefully he'll just die soon from blood poisoning or something. Not a painful death though. That's too sad. But a fast, quick death.

They show Finn on the screen, hiding in the very corner of the Cornucopia so he won't burn. The Capital must have thought it was too boring though, so they showed instead, Liam dying. Oh, what fun. Now he's almost completely covered in burns and the fire is surrounding his and getting closer. Then it happens. All of Liam's skin shrivels up and burns and he dies. The cannon fires. A hovercraft comes to pick up Liam first, exposing his black and red skin that has been eaten in the flames. Then they bring another ladder to the mouth of the Cornucopia for Finnick to climb.

He's done it. Finnick had one the Hunger Games. He's coming home.

*** Back to Finnick! :P ***

The ladder comes down just as the Cornucopia is starting to warm up. I walk over and touch the ladder. It freezes me instantly and the voice of the commentator, Claudius Templesmith, fills the arena.

"The winner of the 65th Annual Hunger Games, Finnick Odair!" he announced and I could just imagine that Capital people cheering.

The hovercraft pulled me up and I was in an empty room before I was ushered into another empty room. I did what they said because I knew that they would just knock me out if I didn't. They put me in a bed and knocked me out. I guess that they would have done it anyway.

I'm not sure what's happened in the past two days. I just kept on coming in and out of sleep. The first thing I remember was Mags humming an old song from District 4. I liked the song, only I haven't heard it in a long time. She sang the tune when I fluttered my eyes and she smiled.

"Hello Finnick. Good morning." she mumbled.

"What time is it?" I asked her. "Wait. No. Tell me what day it is first."

"It's two days after your Games. You should be proud of yourself. For a lot of people it takes a lot longer to actually be able to stay awake." Mags said. "And it's about 4:30 a.m." she told me. I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Why are you awake at 4:30 a.m?" I asked her.

"No Finnick. The question is, why are _you _awake at 4:30 a.m?" she said. Good point.

"Touche. What's happened while I've been in my coma or whatever?" I asked her. She shrugged.

"Nothing really. People are just starting to get impatient, so I'm glad you're awake." she said. I nodded. Normally the interviews are about a week after the Games, but the Capital is _already _wanting more. Weird.

"Why are they getting impatient _already_?" I asked her. She shrugged again.

"You're kind of a big deal, if you don't remember." she said. Oh. That. I looked down at my arm which was attached to a bunch of I.V.s. Ugh. I hate I.V.s. They're annoying and it means that I need fluids which is never good.

"Right. When can I get out of here?" I asked her. Mags waited for a minute, thinking.

"I think that in about three days you'll have made a full recovery." she said. I shook my head 'no'.

"That's not what I mean. When can we get out of _here?_" I asked, making huge gestures so she knew I was talking about the Capital. She laughed at me.

"I don't know. I get to visit home for a few months and then I have to come back. I'm not sure about you though." she said. I frowned. What does _that_ mean? Are they going to make me stay here or something? I would just be a waste of space if I did. I wouldn't really have anything to do.

"What do you mean?" I asked her. She sighed and took my hand in her wrinkly ones.

"You'll see, honey." she mumbled and then she patted my hand and left the room.

What does she mean?

**Hello guys! I'm SO sorry for not updating! I feel SO bad and I'm sorry that this chapter is so short! Oh, and happy late pi day! I'm excited for two more years because then the date will be 3-14-15! And at 9:26 it will almost be real pi! Wow. I can't believe that I've memorized all of that. Well, PLEASE review! ;)**


	16. Another Interview and A Lot of Thinking

**Hiya! I had to rewrite this chapter about five times because I never was quite happy about it, but hopefully it ended up good enough! I was also mildly distracted by other fan fictions... Now that you've read my terrible excuses for being so late, you can read the actual thing! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Annie's POV**

Finn's parents are screaming in excitement that their son got out to the Hunger Games. The news is so great that I can't help but join them. Almy is at school right now, so she's probably cheering also. When the boy was killed, you could hear loud cheers from every house in District 4 probably except for Amaniya's. And her mysterious boyfriend. Soon to be husband. He told us on the interview that they were going to get married and I almost cried. **(A/N: I'm making it so that instead just interviewing the top eight, they review EVERYONE'S family when it gets down to eight) **He told us their whole story from the beginning. Even the parts with her 'other man'. The story made nearly everyone in the whole of Panem cry. But I shouldn't be worried about that. Finnick can come home!

I still can't believe it! He's coming home! Every time that I repeat those three words in my head, I still don't trust myself that it's true.

I still have nightmares about it and my parents wake me up to tell me that he's out. I think for about 2 minutes and then realize that they're right. They remind me that he _is_ out and I feel hysteria run through me and I laugh before going back to sleep. It happens again. I go back to sleep. I wake up in the morning again. I swim. I eat breakfast. I see if anything has happened with Finn. I swim some more. I check again with Finn. I eat lunch. I check again. I swim. And swim. And swim. I eat dinner. I check once more. I go back to sleep.

After about four days, they say that the interviews will be on the next day. Nobody is really sure what to think about this because normally it takes a lot longer for the Victors to be ready. As in most of them are still in a coma at this time. But I guess that it means that Finnick is doing well at least.

That's good. He's doing well. I guess he didn't really get any terrible injuries in his Games. Except for his arms. That was hard to look at. It wasn't just that I'm not very good with blood, but it was also Finn, so that made it worse. I just hope that he comes home soon.

The interview was the normal, standard interview, only this time there were Capital people screaming his name and doing ridiculous things, trying to get his attention. Ew.

It was all of the normal questions and nothing big happened, really. Finnick was all charming and stuff like they told him to be for his first interview. There was a lot of congratulations this time, though.

"Mom, when is he coming back home?" I asked her, not patient enough just to wait for them to announce it. The rest of the years, I don't really pay attention to the Games because it just makes me sad, so I don't know when they usually come home again.

"I don't know, honey. Soon, though." she assured me.

I sighed before standing up and pacing impatiently. I want to see him! "When will they tell us?!" I said, looking at the nearly broken television. Caesar was just shaking Finn's hand and saying goodbye. They still haven't said anything about him coming home! Seriously, how difficult is it to just say a date?! "Come on, Capital! Caesar, just tell us already!"

When Finn left the stage, Caesar said goodbye to the crowd. I don't want to hear that, though. Just tell me! "Finnick Odair, everyone! I hope you had a great night! Finnick will be coming home to District Four tomorrow! Look forward to that. Good night, everyone!" he said.

I smiled at the TV. "Tomorrow." I said quietly. He's coming here tomorrow. Finally! "Mom!"

"Yes?" she asked, distracted.

"Finn's coming home tomorrow!" I said happily, not really bothering to hide my happiness.

"That's great honey..." she said, still distracted by something.

"Mom?" I asked, walking up to her. Something doesn't seem right. "Is something wrong?"

"What?" she asked, looking up. Mom shook her head as if to shake the thoughts away. "Oh, right. No, it's nothing, honey." she assured me.

I frowned, but dismissed my thoughts quickly. I walked up to her and grabbed her hands. "Finn's coming home tomorrow," I said gently. In the back of my head, I knew that something was wrong, but I'll just ask her about it later.

"Really? That's great, Annie!" she said, now looking a lot happier and actually in this world than she did before I told her. "What's it gonna be like when he comes back?" she asked. I sighed at this question. I've been trying to avoid it as much as possible.

"I don't know..." I said. "Since we're so young, things will probably just go back to normal. You know... when we were completely oblivious." My mom nodded understandingly. "I wish that I could be two years older. You know... so that we'd be the same age and stuff."

"Annie, two or three years might seem like a big difference now, but later, nobody will think that it's too dramatic or anything. Your father is three years older than me himself, and you know that. Nobody cares, though." she said. I shook my head.

"That's not really my point. I just... I don't know. I've had too much to think about today. Good night." I said before going to bed.

*** Finnick's POV ***

I exited the stage after the some-what boring interview with Caesar. All that I can think about is how excited I am to go home. I can go home to see my family and Annie tomorrow! How I will be able to go to sleep tonight is beyond me. What will happen between me and Annie? We're both still pretty young... Maybe things will just go back to normal and we'll pretend that none of this happened. In all honesty, I hope that that doesn't happen.

**I hope that you liked that chapter! Once again, I'm terribly sorry for the late update! Sorry! :/ Until next time, I guess!**


	17. Cleaning and Some News

**Hey guys! Not much to say today! I hope you like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Annie's POV**

Today is the day. Today is the day that he comes back. Finally.

I got up and changed into some shorts and a t shirt quickly before sprinting out into the sea. It's warm as usual, but it's still nice and refreshing. I dove under the water and swam the fish, reaching out and touching my fingers along the fish's scales. They don't move or flinch as usual. Their beautiful scales glistened in the morning sunlight.

Swimming is probably the only thing that will keep me from being impatient. I swam to shore and walked along the beach, listening to seagulls and waves crashing to shore. My feet sank into the sand a little and left little footprints as I walked. The thin sand was nice and warm against my feet. It's hard to think about this, though, because my thoughts kept on wandering back to my best friend.

I still can hardly believe that he's won the Hunger Games. That he's a Victor. That he'll be choosing his home soon in the Victor's village and that I will probably never get to go to his true home afterwards. His true home.

This made me realize how much I will miss his home. I went there all of the time and I'll have to just leave it, along with all of the memories that we made there. All those times where we made pranks for the people at school who teased me. Where we would laugh until our stomachs hurt. Where we would stay up all night, just so that we could see the ocean at night with the moon shining off it so that there were two of them. Without another though, I turned around and ran to his house where Mr. Odair was, talking to his wife excitedly about their son coming home.

"Hey..." I said awkwardly, biting my lip. Now that I'm here, I have no idea what to say.

They looked up at me and I looked at my feet. "Hi, Annie." Mrs. Odair said nicely to me. "What brings you here today?"

"Um..." How can I say this without sounding weird? "I guess I was wondering..." I tried again, but I couldn't think of what to say.

"I understand," Mrs. Odair said, smiling warmly at me. I've always liked her. Her beautiful bronze hair and green eyes were very welcoming and nice. It's hard to do that with green eyes, but somehow she accomplished it.

I smiled back and went inside their house and into Finn's room. It's exactly the same as it was before he left. It was nice and blue and it had a bunch of paintings all around it. A lot of them had the beach and some of them had fish in it. There was one that I never noticed before, though. It had a picture of me and him on it. I was wearing a white dress and he was wearing his usual teal-ish shirt and khaki pants. We were sitting on the beach and the sun was setting. The painting was beautiful. Completely... beautiful.

My eyes moved from the painting and they traveled around the room some more. His bed is still unmade. Around the room, you could see a couple of articles of clothing here and there. Other than that, it was pretty clean and neat. As usual.

I walked over and picked up one of his shirts. I put it away in his closet and soon enough, you could find me cleaning his whole room and putting things away. There wasn't much to do, but it kept my hand busy and that's what I needed. Cleaning is a perfect way to distract me from my annoying head that was full of thoughts.

By the time that I was done tidying, it was nearly time for him to be here. _Thank God. _I don't think that I could last very much longer without seeing him after smelling him and seeing different things that defined who he was. It would be too much. I need to see my best friend soon.

So, I left their house and went to my own to see my mother and change before he got here.

"Hey mom!" I said happily, looking up at her with my light green eyes.

She looked up at me, still a little distracted like how she was yesterday. "Hey," she said. Her voice wasn't completely full and she didn't look like she was here.

I walked up to her with a concerned look on my face. "What's happening?" I said. "And don't say nothing, cause I know that something's going on." I added as a second thought.

"I-" she began, but she must have decided to say something else. "Um... Ann, I need to tell you something." she said.

This had me puzzled. Completely. What did she need to tell me? It seemed like she might be being a little dramatic and if my mother is anything, she isn't dramatic. I searched my mind over the last day or two and couldn't seem to find anything different. "What is it?" I asked.

Mom took a deep breath before she began to speak. "Before I say anything, I want you to know that your father is a wonderful man. Okay? You need to understand this wholly with every cell in your body and thought in your brain before I will say anything." she said, clearly nervous about telling me about whatever it is that was bothering her..

I frowned. This didn't seem to be starting well at all. What is she hiding from me? What does my father have anything to do about this? Of course I know that he's a wonderful man. Why did she ask me this? I dismissed my thoughts and nodded. "Yeah. Of course. Mom, what is it?" I asked again, wanting to know what on Earth she was talking about.

She took another deep breath. "Ann... Your father and I... We're splitting up."

**A cliffy! Haha! I hope you liked that chapter! It was sort of filler, but next chapter will have lots of drama and all that good stuff! ;) PLEASE review! I'll give you invisible cookies and tea! YAY! INVISIBLE TEA PARTY! But seriously, please review! :D Until next time!**


	18. Learning Why and Finnick!

**Hello people of the internet! :D Again, not much to say! Thanks if you reviewed, favorited, or followed! :D I love you all! Here's the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Annie's POV**

"W-what?!" I practically screamed. "What do you mean? Are you kidding or something? Is this a joke? Never mind. You wouldn't joke about this. Would you? No you wouldn't." I babbled as my mother looked at me intently, seeing what my reaction is. "But... Why?!"

She shook her head and put it in her hands. "I'm sorry, Ann. We tried. We really did." she said.

Now that I think about it, I realize more and more. They never really got along _perfectly_, but they were always really close. I just never saw what was happening when I left them alone. I was always off with Finnick or helping Mags or something. I was hardly there. Even when I _was _at home, mom and dad were almost the complete opposite. Minus the fact that they were both the nicest, sweetest people in District Four.

"What happened?" I asked. "Why... why did you stop loving each other? And when?"

She had probably prepared for these questions because she knew exactly what to say. "It was... recent. We just realized that we were too different for each other and we just... stopped seeing each other." she said.

A tear began to fall on my cheek. Mom stood up and cupped my hand, wiping the tear away with her thumb. "Hey. It's okay. Hey, everything's fine." she said, pulling me in for a hug. "Hon, how about you go and dress up and I can braid your hair for you? I can put shells and seaweed in it, if you like." she offered.

I nodded, drying my tears. "That would be nice." I smiled up at her and she smiled back at me. Her beautiful brown hair was always up in a braid. A fish tail braid, to be exact. Our hair color was exactly the same and I was almost a miniature version of her, only I was a lot paler and had lighter green eyes. I honestly have no idea how I got so pale.

I went into my room quickly and put on one of my nice dresses that Mags got me. It's green and matches my eyes. It's not too flashy, but it's perfect for something like this. It's knee-high and has white polka dots all over it.

When I came out of my room, mom smiled at me. "You look beautiful." she said. I blushed and looked down at my hands.

"Thanks, mom." I said before walking over to her. "Ready to do my hair?" I asked.

She nodded and held up some sea shells that she must have found along with some seaweed. I knelt down in front of her as she sat on the couch and did my hair. When it was done, my brown hair was pulled back and in the braid.

"There. Now you go and see Finn before he leaves for the Victor's Village." my mom said, smiling a little.

"Thanks, mom!" I said, running out the door.

I ran to where the train would be to see a huge crowd there already. Most of them are girls. I rolled my eyes before preparing to go into the crowd.

Shoving my way through the people, I managed to get near the front when the train pulled up. This made it even more hard to get closer. I pushed my way through and eventually got to the front, where it was roped off, just in case.

The train door opened and Finn stepped out of it, looking exhausted but managing a smirk for the ladies. I rolled my eyes at this as well and he caught my eyes. We just looked at each other for a second, though, when he needed to leave. I pushed my way through, yet again, trying to get to my best friend.

Once people got even a glimpse of him, they decided to leave. I guess that they were just there to see him and nothing else. People these days...

When I got passed all of the people and I reached Finnick, he immediately pulled me into his arms. I hugged him back quickly and closed my eyes, memorizing everything about him. His scent, his arms, his eyes... him.

"I missed you so much." he whispered in my hair.

"I missed you too." I said.

We finally let go and just looked at each other for a moment. He smirked. "Nice dress." he commented.

"Thanks. Mags gave it to me." I said back.

Something was off, though. The smirk that he's wearing doesn't fit him. At all. It fits his Capital personality, but not his District Four one. I frowned.

"What is it?" he asked immediately. His smirk was replaced by a look of concern. There. That's much better.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just haven't seen you in so long..." I said. "Hey, do you want to see your parents and Almy? They're at your house."

Finn smiled and grabbed my hand. "Yeah. Sure." he said. Then, he got... distracted. His eyes got wide and he picked me up and started to run to the sea.

"Finn!" I yelled, laughing. "Fi-" I began to yell again, but he threw me into the water. I quickly swam back up to the surface. "Finnick!"

He jumped in right after me and began to swim to where I was. When he got to me, he smiled. "I've missed it here so much." he said.

"In the water?" I asked.

"The water. Home. District Four. With you..." he trailed off. I blushed.

"Well, you don't have to miss it anymore. It's right here. And I'm right here. I'm not gonna leave any time soon." I reminded him, smiling. He smiled back at me.

"I know, Annie." he said. Then he looked at my hair and held the braid in his hand, twirling it in his fingers. "Your hair is pretty."

"Thanks." I said, blushing. Stupid blush! "My mom did it."

He smiled for a second. "How is your mom?" he asked. I looked into his eyes. They're so pretty. So distracting... "Annie?" he asked, bringing me back to Earth. I shook my head as if to clear my head.

"Yeah? Oh. She's great. Well, not _great._" I said, remembering our conversation earlier.

"Why? What happened?" he asked, frowning. I notice that he's still twirling my braid. His fingers moving it around, making the seaweed twist.

"Um... Her and dad are splitting up." I said, almost forcing out the words. Tears gathered in my eyes again and I tried to blink them away, but one escaped and Finn wiped it away with his thumb.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Annie." he said, once again, gathering me in his arms.

"It's okay. I guess that I can just live with mom and visit dad sometimes." I explained to him. "I just feel so bad for not noticing that he wasn't there! He wasn't at home for a couple of days and I didn't even notice! Finn, I feel like a bad person."

Once I said that, Finnick stopped and looked me in the eye. "No." he said quickly. "No. Annie, whatever happens, whatever anyone says or does, you need to know that you are not a bad person. You are the best person that I know and I will not see you like this. I won't see you blame yourself for what happened. Okay?"

I nodded quickly and let out a breathy laugh. "You'd think that _I_ would be the one comforting _you. _I mean, you're the one who just got out of the Hunger Games." I said.

Finn shook his head. "Nope. I just need comforting when I close my eyes." he said, proud of himself. I smiled and grabbed his hand, dragging him out of the water.

"Come on, Finn. You need to go say hi to your family." I said, before dragging him off to his house.

**Hiya, guys! How was that? You can tell me in the reviews! ;) All who review get to have an invisible llama! YAY! Until next time! :D**


	19. Chess and the Roof

**Hey again! Geez, I'm on a roll! Four chapters in four days! I guess that I just missed this story a lot! ;D Anyway, onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Annie's POV**

Finn has been home for a couple of days now. He's told me how it was like in the Arena and I told him how it was like without him at home. He didn't seem very happy with me, but he understood. We still haven't brought up our relationship at all. I guess we just didn't want it to be awkward or anything. For some reason, though, it feels like there is something different about him. I'm not sure what it was, but I have a nagging feeling that he's not telling me something. Instead of saying anything, though, I just pushed down the feeling until it was pretty hard to even notice it at all.

One day, we went out to the beach together, walking on the shore and holding hands as usual. Then he said it. "Annie," I looked up at him and smiled.

"Yeah, Finn?"

"Annie, I love you." he said simply, as if it was a tiny little thing that hardly mattered. That is not a tiny little thing that hardly matters. That is a very big thing that matters a lot.

I stopped walking and froze where I was. "What?" I asked, my voice small. I doubt you could hear it if you weren't listening.

"I love you." he repeated.

This... I wasn't signing up for this when I woke up this morning! What should I say? Do I say what any other person would say to him? Do I tell him that we're too young? Why am I even thinking about this so much? Didn't my mother and I work this out already?!

While I was thinking, I didn't move or say anything, so Finn looked a little rejected.

"It's okay. I underst-" he began, but I cut him off with my finger.

"No. No, shhhh." I said, looking into his eyes. He's a little bit taller than me. About three or four inches.

"Ann-"

"Shhh." I said again, searching his eyes for anything. All that I could see was green and love. This surprised me at first, but then I decided to do something. Something quite rash. I kissed him. It seemed to surprise both him and me, but we didn't pull away. Instead, I closed my eyes and kissed him harder. He responded quickly, but before anything got too far, I broke away.

"Finn... I love you too." I said, catching my breath. He smiled and rested his forehead on mine.

"Come on, let's go home." he said, grabbing my hand and going to the Victor's Village.

We walked to his new house and found Almy playing a board game by herself. Immediately, my competitive side came out. I smiled mischievously and ran to the other side of the chess board.

"Want to play?" I asked her. Almy smiled and nodded. "Okay, what color do you want?"

"White. So that I get the first move." she said.

"Of course." I smiled kindly at her, arranging the pieces correctly.

We played each other several times and each time I won easily. After Almy completely gave up, Finn wanted to play.

"I want to!" he said before sitting in Almy's seat.

"Good luck beating me," I smirked at him.

He smirked right back. I couldn't help but think about how attractive it made him look. It wasn't like the smirk he was wearing earlier, when he just came home. It was a smirk that my Finnick would wear. I blush and look down.

"Good luck yourself," he challenged, not noticing my blush. "What color?"

"I don't care. You choose." I said.

"Fine. You can go first."

"Okay."

We played each other three times and every time I won. Finn finally gave up. "Fine. You're better at chess than me."

I smirk at him. "Ha. I knew it. 'Bout time you admitted it." I joked. It's kind of funny cause he was the one that taught me.

"Hey! I was... in denial then!" he said. What a weak excuse!

"Yeah... right. You were in denial." I said, smirking and climbing the stairs of his house, planning to go to the roof. It's beautiful up there. You get a view of nearly everything – including the ocean of course. I don't know how long I would last in another district without having water.

After a couple minutes of being up there, Finnick came up and sat down next to me. "Hey," he said, looking out at the view. Now the sun is setting, turning everything the light touches into gold.

"Hey," I look up into his eyes before turning back. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is."

The thing is, he wasn't exactly looking out at the view.

I look in his sea-green eyes to see that he was, instead, looking at me. We gaze into each other's eyes for a while.

"Finnick," I say quietly, not really wanting to break the silence.

"Mhmm,"

"Why me?" I ask quietly. This brought his attention back.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Why me? You could have any girl. In almost any district. And any girl from the Capital. Probably a couple of guys too... But why _me_?" I asked him. This makes no sense at all to me. I'm not pretty. I'm not extremely smart. I'm not strong. I'm awkward. I'm a little crazy. I have almost no friends. Why me?

"Annie... You have absolutely no idea the affect you have on people. No idea at all. How you have such a little amount of friends is beyond me. You, Annie Cresta, are perfect." he stated as if it was a fact of the universe. "Annie, you are the kindest, most caring person I know. I have no idea why you think so little of yourself."

This makes me completely speechless. What do I say to that? Thanks? No, that wouldn't be good enough. What else is there to say, though? I look down at my hands for a second before looking into his eyes again. "Finn..." I say, trailing off. _What do I say?_

"You don't have to say anything," he said, saving me. I smile at my hands.

"Yeah, I guess I don't." I said. Instead of saying something stupid, I kiss him on the cheek. And get up to leave. "Thanks."

"For what?" he asked. I turn back around to look at him.

"For everything." I said before leaving and running back to my house.

**How was that? As usual, reviews are lovely! So if you can favorite, follow or review, then that would be fantastic! Until next time! :D**


	20. A Party and A Note

**Hey guys! I just wanted to say thanks for reading my story! Honestly, you have no idea how much it means to me! :D Here's the next chapter for ya!**

**Annie's POV**

For the next year, we just sort of... well, let's say we just completely ignored our emotions. We just pretended like nothing happened. What else would any other twelve and fourteen-year-old do? We aren't really allowed to date each other until we're both at least sixteen, and even then, girls would hunt me down for 'taking Finnick away from them'. So we just stayed friends. Best friends. Just like it was before.

*** Four Years Later. Annie is 16, Finnick is 18 ***

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" I hear everyone say to me when I walk through the door with Finnick. I jump in surprise. We just came back from the beach and my hair was still drying as I stood there, smiling at my friends and family. I look around the room and see all of my new friends, smiling at my surprised face.

"Thanks guys!" I say awkwardly, biting my lip. "You didn't need to do this."

"Yeah. I think we did, Annie." My friend, Eve, said. I met her a while ago in school. It didn't take long for us to become friends.

"Seriously, Ann. You don't have enough fun for a 16 year old girl." Jase said. He was actually Finn's friend first, but us being so close, he needed to meet me eventually. He's really energetic all the time and he's always trying to get me and Finnick to go to parties and stuff.

I just roll my eyes at him and turn to Finnick. "You planned this, didn't you?" I ask, giving him accusing eyes, but still smiling.

"Yes, I did. Aren't you glad that I actually accomplished something and made it turn out well?" he said, smiling proudly. I roll my eyes at him.

"I'm very glad." I say teasingly, patting his arm.

"'Kay, if you guys could stop flirting, then we'll be on to the actual activity." Jill said. Both of us blushed and looked down at our hands. Our friends and my mom laughed at us.

Jill and I met around a year ago. She wasn't really kind at first, but later she explained that it was just jealousy. I got confused why anyone would ever be jealous of me, but I soon became her friend. Since then, she's basically been using every single chance she got to tease me and Finn and get us to date each other. Every time, though, I just roll my eyes and tell her that we aren't like that and even if we were, we wouldn't be allowed to until I was old enough.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, I began to speak. "What was the actual activity, then?" I asked.

"Right! First, scary films. Jill picked them out!" Eve said, pulling out the films.

"Of course!" I said, taking them and putting them into the semi-new television that Finnick insisted on giving us. "What are they called? And is there a lot of blood?" I asked, worrying about seeing too much gore. I really hate blood and gore.

"There's not much." Jill said, sighing, as if it was a bad thing. "And I sort of forgot what they were called..."

I sat down on the couch and my friends followed. Mags and my mom just left the room because they didn't really enjoy movies like this. I can't disagree with them. If our life wasn't so similar to this, then maybe they would actually watch it with us.

Finn sat on my left and Eve on my right. Jill sat right of Eve and Jase sat right of Jill. Right when we sat down, it began to play.

I don't get to see very many films. I like this one a lot. It was really terrifying and it had a great plot. During it, I found myself grabbing Finn's arm a lot. Yep. It was definitely Jill who picked these out. After I began to accidentally dig my nails into his skin, he gently removed my hand and just put his arm around my shoulders. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jill smirk at us.

After the movie finished, we didn't do much. We just sort of hung out, ate cake and then people gave me presents. As usual, Mags gives me a new dress. I smile and thank her, putting it down, careful not to ruin it or anything.

Next was my mother's gift. I open it and see a necklace. But it wasn't just any necklace. It had a huge, blue gem in it that was sparkling brilliantly from the light. Surrounding it were clear diamonds that circled around the blue one. It took my breath away. I just sat there, looking at it.

"How much money was this?" I asked my mother quietly.

"I'm not sure, really. It was my grandmother's. We've passed it through generations." she said. I looked up at her with unsure eyes.

"You're sure you want me to have it?" I asked. This is clearly a very expensive piece of jewelry. I don't want anything to happen to it when it's in my hands.

"I'm sure, Annie." she said, smiling at me. I smile back. "Do you want me to put it on for you?" she asked. I nodded and she came around the room and clasped it around my neck.

"Thank you." I said, smiling at her.

The next one I open is from Eve and I see that she gave me a pretty, plain white dress. It's perfect for District Four since it's always warm outside. I smile and thank her, putting the dress on top of Mags'.

I open the gift that Jase gave me next and see a party invitation for someone that I don't know. I laugh and look up at him. "Really?" I ask.

"It's your gift and I'll be hurt if you don't come." he said, faking a hurt look.

"Of course you would. That's why I'm going to come and make everyone here suffer with me." I said, smiling.

"Annie, that's not fair!" Finn said. I look at him and raise my eyebrows. He visibly shrunk back a little. "What if your mom and Mags don't want to go?" he asked.

"Oh, no. They don't have to go if they don't want to. But I'm taking the four of you. Jase will probably be running to get there anyway, though."

"You know me so well." Jase said, winking at me. I roll my eyes playfully and get back to the gifts. There are a lot more of them ever since I've actually had friends.

The next one is from Jill. She gave me a couple of bows to put it my hair. She probably has about a hundred of bows. One for each outfit. Seriously. It's ridiculous how many bows she has.

I chuckle and take a blue bow out that matches my dress and put it in my hair, pinning it back. "Thanks!" I said happily.

"Now you can _finally _start your collection!" she said happily.She's been trying to get me to wear bows in my hair ever since we became friends a year ago.

"It took me long enough..." I teased. She didn't seem to get it though, cause she agreed with me.

I turned back to the gifts and, of course, Finn's was the last one. I take a deep breath before opening the box to find the annual painting of us on the beach. As usual, it's extremely beautiful. I smile at him and put the gift to the side when I see that this time, there is something else in the box. There's never something else in the box.

Intrigued, I pick it up and read the piece of paper:

_Meet me in the cave you showed me 8 years ago at 1:00._

I look up at him and mouth 'a.m.'. He nodded and I put the note back in the box before putting it to the side.

"Thanks, Finn!" I said, smiling at him. Then I turn to the rest of the group who had confused looks on their faces. "Thanks guys! Now. What's next on the agenda?"

**I hope you liked that chapter! I enjoyed writing it! They are finally older. :D Please review if you have the time!**


	21. The Cave

**Hiya! I hope you guys liked that last chapter! I realized that I didn't put a disclaimer on the last one, but I'm sure you guys know by now that I don't own the Hunger Games. I won't keep you waiting! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Annie's POV**

Once the time came, I snuck out of my house, using the window of my bedroom. I closed the window until there was only a tiny space that only my fingers could fit into.

I ran out to the beach in just my swimsuit and jumped into the water quietly, making sure not to wake my mom. Who knows what would happen if she found out that I was sneaking out at 1:00 on the day after my birthday in just a swimsuit to see the boy that won the Hunger Games – not to mention the fact that I'm in love with him, but I've been pushing down my feelings for about 4 years now.

I swam out to the cave as fast as I could, curious to see what waits for me there. The water wasn't extremely warm, but it wasn't freezing cold. It was instead, nice and refreshing. There weren't many fish out. I wonder where they go at night.

When I got there, Finn helped me out of the water and offered me a towel. A dry towel. How did he get a dry towel out here? I accepted the towel and wrapped it around me.

"Thanks," I say quietly, getting my first real look at the cave. The only lighting in it is a lantern and a couple of candles. There's a blanket covering the rocks so that no one will slip on it again. On the blanket was a picnic basket, two cushions and a small box. "So... What's this?" I asked him.

"Um..." he said, embarrassed for some reason. He ran his hand through his hair. "You can have a seat if you want." he said, gesturing to one of the cushions. I quickly have a seat and smile up at him, patting the other cushion that was in front of me. Finn smiled back and sat in it.

"So. What am I doing here at 1:00 A.M?" I asked him. Clearly, he wouldn't be able to explain to me what I'm doing here without me asking.

He sighed. It was a happy sigh, though. I've never seen a happy sigh before. Only exhausted or frustrated ones. "Annie..." he trailed off. I nodded and grabbed his hand, encouraging him to continue. He looked at our hands before looking into my eyes. "Annie, I'm still in love with you."

I can feel my eyes widen at his words. My heart sped up and could feel it beating in my chest. Then I realize how long it's taking me to do anything. I've been rehearsing this in my head for a while. You'd think that at least I'd be able to say something.

Finnick looked at me worriedly. "Annie?" he asked, squeezing my hand a little. "Are you okay?"

I blinked a little, trying to clear the stars that were blocking my vision. "I... think so." I said once I regained my vision. Why was this such a surprise to me? We already admitted it to each other four years ago! Maybe it was the fact that he still loved me after all this time.

"Annie," His voice brought me back from my thoughts. "I love you."

"I love you too." I replied. "I really do. I love you, Finnick."

With that, he leaned in and kissed me. Gently at first, but then I kissed him harder and somehow, I ended up sitting in his lap, both of our lips locked.

When we finally broke away, we were breathless. Literally. I bit my lip once I caught my breath. Why did I need to be to awkward?!

"So..." I said, looking down at my hands.

"So..." he replied, teasing me. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Did you just make me come here at 1:00A.M just so that you could tell me you loved me and then kiss me? Or was there something else in this plan?" I asked. I know that he's just making me push him to say this so that he could laugh at my awkwardness.

"Right. There's some food if you want any." he said, pointing out the basket. I smile.

"What's in in it?" I asked.

"Just some fish," he said as if it wasn't anything big. To be honest, though, I was really in the mood for fish.

I get off his lap, open the basket and take out the plate that had fish on it and was carefully put in it. It smelled positively divine. Just like the ocean. "Thanks, Finn." I said, smiling at him. He smiled back at me immediately.

"You don't need to thank me, Annie." he said.

"That doesn't stop me." I told him.

There was an awkward silence after that, so I decided to start eating. I took a fork full of fish and stuffed in my mouth. Eating the fish made me realize how hungry I was. I didn't eat supper tonight. This thought just made me eat it quicker.

"Hungry, there?" he teased. I blushed and shrugged.

"I didn't eat any supper." I replied. He nodded.

"Right..." he said, looking at his hands.

When I finished eating, I put the plate away in the basket before looking up at him. "So... now what?" I asked him.

"Now, I give you this."

Finnick took out the box that I noticed earlier and handed it to me. I looked down at my hands that were holding the box, then back at Finn.

"Go on. Open it." he said.

I turned back to the box at took the lid off. Inside of it was a bracelet. It was handwoven with rope and had a single pearl on one of the pieces of rope that was knotted at both ends so that it wouldn't move or fall off. The pearl was a beautiful white color that had just a little bit of green tinted to it. It was simple and beautiful and perfectly me. I looked up at him.

"This is so beautiful." I said quietly, looking back down at it. "Could you help me put it on?"

"Yeah, sure." he said. Then he grabbed my left wrist gently and put the bracelet on.

"Thank you," I said, looking into his eyes.

For a while, we just gazed into each other's eyes until we realized that the sun was just starting to come up. That's my cue.

"I need to go or my mother will worry." I said, getting ready to go. Right when I was about to leave, though, Finn grabbed my wrist. "What?" I asked. Without answering, he just leaned in and kissed me. I smiled into his lips before making myself pull away. "Bye, Finnick." Then, I swam out to my house and slept as much as I could until my mother woke me up.

**I hope you guys liked that chapter! As usual, reviews are fantastic! Even constructive criticism is good! Until next time! :D**


	22. Sadness and A Note

**Hiya! Thank you if you reviewed, followed or favorited my story! I really appreciate it!Onto the story! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Finnick's POV**

She still doesn't know. It's been two years since Snow gave me the 'assignments'. All that I had to do was flirt with them and sometimes kiss them, then that would be it, but I could tell that something else was going to start happening. I could just tell. Ever since I turned eighteen, he's been hinting at it. And I couldn't be more upset about it than I am now.

***** Annie's POV *****

The next few months have been... fantastic. Completely wonderful. Me and Finn were officially together and he was absolutely the best boyfriend ever.

Every single day, he'd walk with me on the beach and we would sometimes go to our cave together. I never took off the bracelet that he gave me. It's too perfect to take it off, so why would I? Everything seemed too good to be true, so of course, something bad had to happen.

Several months since we've been dating, I was watching TV because I was extremely bored and I flipped through the channels. That was when I saw it. It was Finnick. Kissing a Capital girl. My Finnick was in the Capital, kissing another girl that wasn't me.

For a while, I just froze there, not knowing exactly what normal people did when they saw their Victor boyfriends kissing a girl from the Capital. It felt like the world was imploding and everything was ending where I sat. What is happening? Finnick wouldn't do this! Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe it isn't him.

I double checked the screen, but I still saw the face of my boyfriend, kissing that girl.

Then I felt it. The rage. The burning rage that made me want to explode. I've never felt rage before, so I didn't know how it felt like before then, but I knew now. I knew that it was rage that I felt when I turned off the TV and ran out of my house and screamed with frustration. Why would he do this to me?!

For a while, I thought he really loved me! How could I be such an idiot?! Who would love some stupid, small girl from District Four who was barely pretty or anything? I'm nothing special, why would I fall for him in the first place? I would obviously just get my heart broken.

I was running for a while, just letting out my anger when I ran into him. He looked concerned. "Annie? What is it?" he asked, reaching out a hand. I slapped it down.

"Shut up." I said, my voice cracking a little from the anger and pain I felt. Finnick frowned.

"Annie, I don't understand. What's wrong?" he asked. Then I did it. I slapped him. He didn't seem upset, though. Just confused.

"Get away from me. Leave me alone." I said, glaring at him through the tears. "I don't ever want to see your face again."

Something's wrong, though. I could see tears on his face as well. Why is he crying?! He's the idiot who cheated in the first place!

"Annie, I-" he started, but I just stormed off.

I was telling the truth. I never want to see Finnick Odair's face ever again.

***** Finnick's POV Again *****

She knew. That's the only reason why she would do that. She knew that I go to the Capital and she knows about my 'assignments'. Only, I don't think she knows half of it.

To me, the most logical way that she knew was by seeing me and some Capital woman on TV. That would be enough to ruin everything, though. And it did.

Annie kept her promise. I never saw her anywhere. I looked and looked. Every day, I checked the beach and our cave. Both places hurt to be around because it just reminded me of her. Everything I did reminded me of her. Things that I ate, people that I saw, places where I met, and all of them reminded me of Annie Cresta.

Eventually, I just stopped. I stopped doing everything. I didn't eat, drink, sleep, talk, move unless someone forced food down my throat and tilted my head back to make me drink. I didn't even go to the Capital. I just stared at a crack in the wall, thinking about what a terrible person I am. And nobody seemed to like it.

Mags came once. She told me that she heard what happened between me and Annie. Of course she did. Her and Annie are as tight as a knot. The old woman tried to comfort me several times, but all of the times I would just ignore her and continue my state.

Jill, Jase and Eve came around once to try and snap me out of it. They just got frustrated and left after a while.

But out of all of the people, President Snow was probably the most upset. He even wrote me a letter.

"Finnick! You must see this. It's from President Snow." my mother said, worried.

She handed me the note with a rose on it. It was a real rose. It was almost as if it had bloomed from inside the card, making the flower pop out at you. I ripped it out and read the note.

_Mr. Odair,_

_I'm afraid that since you didn't accept the offer, there will be some... consequences. I hope that this will send you back on track and you will learn to accept the offers._

_President Coriolanus Snow_

Oh no. This won't be good. What is my consequence? Please don't involve Annie. Whatever it is, just don't make it have anything to do with Annie.

And it didn't. The next day, my mother shook me.

"Finnick." she said. Her voice was so sad that I just needed to look at her. "It's your father."

Those three words killed me. So this is my punishment. My father will die because I didn't sleep with a woman from the Capital that I've never met before.

I immediately jumped out of my... state and I got up and looked at my mother. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Finnick..." She let out a sob. "You're father died."

"What?" I said. "No. No, no, no, no. No. This can't be true." I didn't want to believe it. This world is too terrible for it to be real. First, I lose my dignity. Next, I lose Annie. Then, I lose my father. This world is terrible. Why should I even live if all I'm going to do is suffer?

**Okay, depressing chapter... Sorry! It just needed to happen to add some drama to it! :D Please review if you can! Until next time!**


	23. Friends and Lonliness

**Hey, guys. Sorry about how sad these are going to have to be. :/ Thanks if you reviewed or followed or favorited or anything! Onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Annie's POV**

I had to admit, the first week or two, I was a little depressed. Finnick was my best friend, though. I spent more that half of my day with him normally. And now I don't have him. That seemed like a good enough excuse for me to be at least a little depressed.

I got through it, though, with the help of Jill, Jase and Eve. They all told me that Finnick was a complete mess. I couldn't help but feel bad for him. I didn't exactly give him a chance to explain, but if he didn't do it, there wouldn't be anything that needed to be explained in the first place! With that thought, I began to get happier without him.

I felt bad since our friends were all on my side, but I was sure that Finnick would have enough company with all of his Capital girls. The thought nearly made me sick, but then I would just ignore him. That's what he deserves, though. Some stupid women that only liked him for his body and nothing more. Blood-thirsty, crazy women that had nothing better to do than kiss Victors and ruin their relationships. It seemed that whenever I began to feel bad for him, I would just end up getting angrier than I started with.

Jill soon became my new best friend and she would buy me new bows and make me wear them. I would laugh and roll my eyes as she put it in my hair.

Eve was a close second. Her and I were really alike. Seriously, though. We even _looked _alike. I guess that sort of proves that I don't like myself as much as I like another, more excited and energetic person. But we were almost as close as me and Jill were.

Jase, though... Well, I guess that I sorta like him... in a more than a friend sort of like him. And I think it goes the same for him too. We've been showing small signs and blushing whenever our skin touched and all that. I guess that it was sort of childish of us.

One day, though, he finally decided to ask me out. It was not nearly as big and magnificent as Finnick, but I felt wrong to compare the two. Actually, the thought almost sickened me. Jase was Finnick's friend first and I took away his friend and decided to go out with him a month or so after we broke up. That makes me sound like a terrible human being.

***** Finnick's POV *****

Jase is dating Annie. He is dating _my _Annie. Well, she is not mine anymore... UGH! My life is so terrible!

I stood up from my bar stool I was sitting on and kicked it as hard as I could and it fell and slid on the floor. "Ugh!" I said, falling face-first into my couch.

This house is so empty and I think that it makes everything worse. It doesn't feel homey in my house in the Victor's Village at all. I miss my real home. The small, non-echoey house that doesn't remind me of how lonely I am. All that this house does is remind me of how I had won it. It reminds me of the screams of the children that I killed a few years ago. It reminds me of the Capital, which reminds me of what I have to do to those women, which reminds me of how Annie dumped me and basically ripped out my heart. I screamed into the pillow.

Sometimes, Almy would walk in while I was having one of my fits and her eyes would widen as she walked back out of the room slowly. Mom would also sometimes walk in, but she would be more comforting. It depended on the day, but sometimes she would just hug me as I cried until I got out all of my anger and sadness. But on other days, I would be too angry and so she would have to take me to Mags. The one person who understood completely how I felt.

Mags said that she had to do the prostitution too, when she was a young Victor. She said that she didn't have to go as often as I did, though. Apparently, I'm one of the most popular right now. People are paying a bunch of money to get in bed with me. What a pleasant thought.

Mags was probably the one that kept my sanity at a sort of normal-ish level. There was also a lot of help from the Victor Johanna Mason who won the Games a year ago. She also gets sold to the Capital. She talks to me when we are forced to go there. It's nice, really, to have something to look forward to when I get there. Even something as small as having a friend there who I can tell anything to.

Johanna has 'REBEL' written all over her. She told me that she didn't have anything left to lose. Then I asked her why she comes to the Capital if she wouldn't lose someone if she didn't. She told me that she came for the food. I laughed with her, but I knew that Snow would also kill her if she didn't come.

Those are the two people who keep me from going crazy and who stop me from just going and killing Snow. I don't have Annie to help me anymore. I don't have my other friends either. I don't have my dad. Almy and my mother hardly help because they don't know what it's like.

And I also decided to skip my 'assignments' again. I just can't do it. I won't do it. I hardly have anything to lose, anyway. Mom and Almy aren't very close to me anymore, now that I'm... distant. The only people that I could lose that would really affect me would be Johanna and Mags... and Annie, but I don't think that Snow would notice that I am still in love with her. It's still possible, though.

So that basically means that Snow is going to kill Mags, Johanna or Annie.

I guess it just sucks to be Finnick Odair.

***** Annie's POV Again *****

It's been a while since Jase and I have started dating and the Reaping was coming around again. For some reason, I just have a bad feeling about it. I've got a feeling that something will happen in this one.

My name is in there 7 times. One for me, one for mom. I needed a little bit of tesserae just so that we could have a meal for breakfast, lunch and supper, plus the 5 times that I needed to put it in. But the odds are most definitely in my favor. There are thousands of slips in there. My friends are also pretty safe. So why am I so worried this time?!

**Hey! There's still sad stuff, but I promise it will get better eventually. As usual, reviews are much appreciated! Until next time! :D**


	24. Another Reaping

**Hey again! I just wanted to say thanks for all the support and everything! Anyway, onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Annie's POV**

It's the morning of the Reaping.

I woke up screaming, as I normally do on Reaping day, only this time I don't have Finnick to calm me.

My mother tried to stop my screaming, only her soothing voice didn't help much. I have a feeling that something will actually happen this time and to make it worse, I don't have Finnick to talk to. Everything seemed to have finally started to get to my head. Losing Finn, losing my father, losing Finn, hardly having any friends, losing Finn... You get the point.

Eventually, I calmed down. The odds are in my favor this year. In fact, I hardly have any in there at all. Why am I worrying so much? Just calm down.

I unhooked my mother's arms from around me and took a bath, getting ready for today's Reaping. I scrubbed off the dirt and sand that covered me and washed my hair.

The dress that I would wear was hung up in my closet. My mother must have picked it, because I've never seen it before. I quickly just put it on and looked at myself in the mirror. The dress was light green that matched my eyes and it went just below my knees. It was strapless and at the waist, it had a ribbon that tied in the back. The color went well with the bracelet from Finnick that I had decided not to take off. It was too perfect and I thought that it would be too rude.

"Annie?" My mother appeared, leaning against my door frame. I turned back and smiled kindly at her.

"Yes?" I asked.

"You look beautiful." she said. I looked down at my hand that was fiddling with the bracelet. It seemed to come as a habit whenever I felt awkward or didn't know what to say. "Would you like me to do your hair?" she asked.

"Of course!" I said, my smile widening. My hair has looked beautiful at the Reaping for the last couple of years. Since she's so good with knots and netting, mom would always find some beautiful way to put it up. This year, she decided to fish tale braid it and pin it up with a couple pieces of hair falling out in curls. This might be the best one yet.

"Wow. This is gorgeous, mom. Thank you so much." I said, looking at her through the mirror. She smiled back at me.

"Would you like some shells?" she asked. I shook my head.

"No. It's beautiful the way it is." I said.

"Well, come and eat some lunch. The Reaping will start in an hour or so." she said. I nodded and got up and followed her out of my room.

***** Finnick's POV *****

Snow had sent me a letter a week or two ago and there still hasn't been a punishment. That could only mean one thing. He's waiting for the Reaping.

I figured it out a couple of days ago when I realized that nothing bad happened after Snow's warning. Last time, though, it happened a couple of minutes after I read the letter. Something wasn't right. Then, I realized how close the Reaping was. That seemed to make me figure it out. The Reaping. Who do I care for that is eligible to be in the Hunger Games? Oh, that's right. Annie.

Snow is, with no doubt in my mind, going to put Annie Cresta in the Hunger Games.

***** Annie's POV Again *****

Mom and I got to the Square of our district and she gave me a good luck hug before going to stand on the perimeter of the gathering place. I took a deep breath. Here we go. Another year.

I walked up to the next available Capital person. "Name?" she asked.

"Annie Cresta," I said.

"Hand?" she said, holding out her hand before I reluctantly gave it to her. She stung my finger and put my blood on the paper before she dismissed me.

I walked over to where the other seventeen-year-old girls were. Eve and Jill were already here, so I didn't have to worry about being alone. "Hey, guys." I said when I approached them. They turned around and smiled at me.

"Hey, Ann!" Jill said. Her voice sounded happy, but underneath the happiness, you could hear the worry.

"Still haven't taken off that bracelet, I see." Eve said, taking my left hand, where Finnick put it, just more than a year ago. I rolled my eyes at them.

"Guys, I already told you that I wasn't going to take it off. I mean, I'm over him, but I really like my bracelet!" I said. Most of that sentence was true. Yes, I really like my bracelet. It's just the 'I'm over him' part that I'm not so sure about. Whenever I saw Finnick anywhere, I would just turn the opposite direction and leave wherever I was so that there weren't any awkward moments. It seemed easiest, but I'm still not completely sure that I'm over him just yet.

"Geez! Okay, Ann! We get it." Jill said, raising her hands in surrender.

"Plus, I'm with Jase now. And I'm happy with him." I said, nearly forcing the words out. That surprised me. Why would I need to force the words out? It's true! I _am _happy with him! Seriously, what is wrong with me today?!

"Okay, shhh. It's starting." Eve said, smirking at us.

I looked up at the stage as our mayor began to speak. It's the same speech every year, and then we watch the same video from the Capital every year. I think that a lot of people actually get a little bored from all of the repetition. I know I am. It's not even the good kind of repetition, either that helps you study or whatever. It's the bad, annoying kind that just goes on and on every year.

Anyway, once the mayor finished speaking and the video stopped, Lexi walked over to the microphone. "Hello, everyone! Now, wasn't that wonderful?" she asked. She was met by silence. The crazy Capital woman just pursed her lips before continuing. "Okay. Well, as usual, ladies first!" she said happily.

She walked over to the girl's bowl, digging her hand around the bowl to make there be more suspense. It didn't help much. All that it made me want to do was just yell at her and tell her to hurry up already.

Soon, though, she finally managed to pick one slip of paper before walking back over to the mic. She opened the slip and took a deep breath before saying, "Annie Cresta"

I just froze. This can't be real. She isn't really calling my name. She can't be.

But she did. Eve nudged me so that I would come back to my senses. After that, I realized that I needed to get on the stage. I began to move my legs and soon, I found that I was standing on the stage, in front of everyone in my district. Okay, this is most definitely real. If this was a dream, I would have probably woken up already. I pinched myself, just to make sure, but I was awake.

The next name almost surprised me as much as my name did.

Lexi walked over to the boy's bowl and put her hand in, searching for the right name to make this Hunger Games interesting. She finally pulled one out and read it. "Jason More"

That's Jase. He walked up here with good posture, clearly trying to make a good impression. He stood opposite me and Lexi made us shake hands. I'm guessing that he was trying to give me a reassuring squeeze. It didn't help very much, though.

"Happy Hunger Games! And my the odds be _ever _in your favor!"

**Hey! So this is where the drama starts! Fun! Please review if you can! You're all lovely! Until next time! :D**


	25. Visitors and Lots of Yelling

**Hey guys! Thanks so much to the reviewers! Here's another chapter for you!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Annie's POV**

Soon, we were ushered off the stage and into the Justice Building. Once I got there, I sat on the couch and put my head in my hands.

This can't really be happening. I can't be going into the Hunger Games with Jase. That will make it so much worse! I love him! We've been dating for several months and I knew him as a friend before that and I might have to see him die!

There's also that one tiny fact that I won't be able to survive this. I'm going into the Hunger Games. How is anyone able to think that I'm gonna be able to win this? If anyone does, they've obviously not got their head on just right. I don't have any skills except knotting, netting and swimming. I've got a feeling that won't be enough to win the Games.

The door opens and my mother walks in the room. I look up and she runs to my side. "Annie," she said, her tears falling freely. "Annie, I love you so much." she said.

"I love you too, mom." I said, leaning my forehead on her's. "It'll be okay."

"Honey, you need to try. You _must _try to get out of there." she said, sobbing and grabbing my hand.

I nod. "Of course. Of course. I'll try to come home. I'll try to come to you. I promise." I said, tears running down my cheeks now also. "I will try my hardest. I'll get loads of sponsors. I've got Mags. You know she'll take good care of me."

"Yes. Mags. She'll take care of you." She leaned away and looked at me, taking in my outfit, face, hair... She kissed my forehead. "I love you, honey. I love you so much."

"Mom, don't worry. I could come back." I said, but we both knew that I was only trying to cheer her up.

"Yeah. You could." she said.

"Time's up." the Peacekeeper said, grabbing hold of my mother.

"I love you, Annie!" she said.

"I love you too!" I yelled, standing up to see her for the last time, just as the door closed.

Sighing, I sat back down on the couch. I felt the soft silk on my fingers and closed my eyes.

The sound of the door opening comes to my ears and I don't look up. Before I can, though, I see Jill kneeling in front of me. She grabs my face in her hands and forces me to look at her. I see her pretty long hair is all tangled and her eyes are wet with tears.

"Annie," she said, her voice shaking. "I can't believe this is happening."

"Yeah, try being me." I joked. The corners of her mouth turned up a bit.

"Annie, you need to try." she said.

"Of course I'll try. What else would I do? Just let myself die?" I said back, deciding to joke instead of cry.

"Ha. Yeah. I doubt you would just sit there and do nothing and just kill yourself." Jill said.

"You know, it's our last time together and I don't know what to say!" I said, looking at my hands that were twisting the pearl on the bracelet.

"Me neither!" she said, laughing and then trailing off awkwardly. "Annie, try as hard as you can. Seriously."

"Okay. I've got Mags to help. You know how sweet she it to me." I said. "After all, I've been helping her around her house for about 10 years."

"Great. She'll be wonderful. I just know it." she said. "Ann, you've also got Finnick." she reminded me.

"I know." I took a deep breath. "This will be very awkward."

She smirked. "Especially once he sees you wearing that bracelet." she teased.

"Shut it." I snapped. "I like this bracelet. It doesn't mean anything more than that."

"Fine, whatever Ann." she said, putting her arms up in surrender.

"Time's up." the Peacekeeper said. He dragged Jill out, but not fast enough for us to hug and for her to wish me luck.

Then I was alone for a couple of seconds before Eve came in. She will no doubt be the last one who visits.

She runs over to me and hugs me. "You'll be okay. You're gonna come out." she said, probably just trying to calm herself down. "You've got Mags and Jase and Finnick. You're gonna come out."

"Eve, calm down." I said, petting her hair. "It's fine. I'll try my hardest to come home. Don't worry about me."

She just nodded and pulled away, looking into my eyes. "Annie, you've got this. You're gonna win. You need to win, okay? I believe in you."

"Of course." I said.

After that, we just sort of looked at each other.

Eve and I were really close. We're just like the other, but Jill is still my best friend. Eve and I are still extremely close. Since we are practically the same person, we almost always know what the other is thinking. For example, I know that right now she's thinking about how many people I have routing for me and how I could possibly win. We just know.

"Time's up." the Peacekeeper said, way too early.

"Bye, Annie. Good luck." she said before she was dragged out of the room.

I sigh and lay down on the couch, not expecting anyone else. I'm rather startled when I hear the door opening again.

My father entered the room.

"Dad?" I asked, not understanding why he would see me goodbye. I haven't seen him since him and mom separated. It just felt like I would be betraying my mom to talk to him for some reason.

"Annie," he said, walking up to me. "I know that I haven't seen you since I left, but... you're still my little girl and I still love you."

"Dad, I love you too, but I just don't feel like talking to you right now." I said, turning to look out the window that was next to the couch I was sitting on.

"Annie, I'm so sorry that I left." he said. "You wouldn't understand-"

"MAYBE I WOULD IF YOU TOLD ME! MAYBE I COULD ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND WHY YOU LEFT MY MOTHER FOR SOMEONE ELSE IF YOU WOULD JUST EXPLAIN TO ME WHY YOU STOPPED LOVING HER!" I yelled at him.

"Annie, love is compli-"

"SHUT UP! I KNOW IT'S COMPLICATED! I'VE LOVED SOMEONE WHO THEN CHEATED ON ME FOR A CAPITAL WOMAN! I KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LOVE SOMEONE AND THEN GET BETRAYED!" I yelled, standing up and getting closer to him. "Father, a lot has changed in the past couple of years. I'm not the innocent little girl that you knew before. I'm a normal teenager who has a boyfriend and who is entered into the Hunger Games. I will do whatever I can to get out of that Arena," I said in a dangerously low voice. "And when I come back, I don't want to speak to you again."

"Time's up." the Peacekeeper said for the very last time.

"Annie, I do love you. You're still my daughter." he said while being dragged out of the room.

Then, the door didn't open again and I laid down on the couch and cried until I didn't have anymore tears left.

**Hey, guys. Kind of sad, but interesting chapter! I hope you liked it! Please leave a review if you can! Until next time! :D**


	26. Admitting and Apologies

**Hiya! Thanks for all of the support! I love you all! I hope you like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games... *sob***

**Annie's POV**

Someone knocked on the door and I quickly wiped my face clear of tears before they came in to tell me it was time to go to the train station. I nodded and followed them out of the Justice Building and got in the car that would take me to the train. Cars aren't very common in the Districts, so it was wonderful to be able to ride in one before I die. Because that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to try, but eventually, I know I'll die in the Arena.

While in the car, Lexi chirped about how beautiful the Capital was and how much we were going to enjoy it there. I just ignored her and kept my head straight, wiping my face of all emotion as the cameras kept flashing. I could feel Jase's eyes on me, but I didn't look back at him, afraid that when I saw his eyes I would slip.

Soon, we got to the train station. In front of me, I saw a huge train that was reflective and it looked as if it were built for speed and elegance. We both got on and the interior was just as beautiful, if not more. It had chandeliers and beautiful silk tablecloths. On the tables were piles of food that could probably feed both me and my mother for more than a week. There was beautiful carpet with a simple pattern that made it look like waves.

After looking around for a while, Mags and Finnick showed up. Mags was her normal self, with her white hair pinned up. She smiled at me, making her wrinkles come out. Finnick, however, looked awful. His hair looked ruined – as if he's been running his hand through it a lot. His face was worse, though. His eyes were bloodshot and he had bags under his eyes that made it look like he hasn't slept in who knows how long. I couldn't help but feel bad for him.

"Annie, how are you doing?" Mags asked, going to hug me.

"Well, you know." I said, hugging her tightly. "I just got entered for the Hunger Games, so I guess that's not very good."

"No, it isn't." Jase said. "But we're gonna get you out."

I froze and looked at them. They all were just looking back at me. No! I can't let Jase die. I won't let them just focus on me! "No. Guys, Jase needs to get out. I don't have a huge family or anything and hardly anyone will miss-"

"Annie, I'm going to make you come out." Jase said sternly. I glare at him. "You have so many people that would miss you if you... died. We're getting you out."

"No! I don't need to! You do! You are the one that should be coming out! Not me. I have little to no choice winning, okay?! I can't win the Hunger Games and you better get used to it!" I said, raising my voice.

"Annie..." Finnick said. I turned to him.

"What?" I snapped.

"I'm gonna get you out of there." he said. "You might hate me, but that doesn't mean that I stopped loving you. And I don't want you to die."

At this, everyone went silent. I stared wide-eyed at Finnick as he continued.

"I will do everything in my power to get you out of that Arena alive." he said before storming out of the room, not allowing me to respond.

It didn't feel right to just let him storm off, so I followed him. "Finnick!" I said, trying to catch up to him. "Finnick, wait."

"What, Annie?"

I jogged the last two steps so that I was closer to him. Now, we were in another part of the train, closer to the front. Mags and Jase wouldn't be able to hear anything that we said.

"Finnick, I need to know." I said, standing in front of him.

"What do you need to know?" His voice got softer the more he spoke to me.

"Why did you cheat on me, Finnick?" I asked. I've been wanting to ask him this question for so long, but I never... got the chance to. "I thought we were happy. Then... everything just got destroyed and ruined. Why did you do it?"

"Annie, follow me." he said. Then, he walked down a couple more hallways until we got to a ladder. He climbed up and motioned for me to follow. "Come on," he said when he opened the top.

I'm not very fond of heights. At all.

"Finnick..." I said nervously.

"Annie, I won't let anything happen to you. Just grab my hand." he said.

I nodded and climbed out, taking a deep breath.

On the roof of the train, there was a hand rail that made sure that you didn't fall. You could see all the scenery of the country as we passed it. But the thing that I noticed most was that we were going really, really fast.

Finnick held out his hand and I grabbed it tightly, trying not to look down. "Finnick," I said nervously. "Why are we up _here_?" I asked.

"Annie, I need to tell you something that no one else can know about except for you and Mags. You can't freak out or get mad or anything." he said. I nodded, trying as hard as I could to just focus on what he was going to say because if I looked down, I'm not sure if I would stay conscious much longer.

"Yeah, what is it?" I asked.

"Ever since I won the Hunger Games, I was... very popular in the Capital." he started. I looked up at him. This was obviously very hard for him to say. "I was invited to parties and I was forced to sell myself to people."

"What?" I said quietly. Oh my god! I can't believe that I broke up with him because he was forced to do this! "What would happen if you didn't?" I asked, wanting to know more. I'm still not sure if this is real. I need to make sure that he didn't like it at all. I need to make sure that he didn't really cheat on me.

"Annie, every time I decline them, someone I love dies." he told me, truth filling his eyes.

"Oh my god." I said, mostly to myself. I can't believe this is happening to him! "Have you lost anyone?" I asked, my voice much softer now that I know that he had no choice in the matter.

"My father," he said.

"Finnick, I'm so sorry." I said, wrapping him in my arms. "I'm so sorry."

We just held each other for the next minute or so, taking each other in for the first time in several months. It had been so long since we last talked to each other or even looked at each other. And now, here we are, hugging each other on the roof of the train going to the Capital.

What a weird day.

**Hey! A slightly happier chapter! Finnick and Annie are nice-ish to each other and they're all going to fight to make her live. There's gonna be lots of drama soon! Please review and tell me what you think! :D**


	27. Discussing Strategies

**Hey guys! Thanks so much if you reviewed! I'm sorry it took so long. I was pretty busy, but I'll start updating as much as I can. I'm in Hawaii right now, so I probably won't update for a while, but I'll for sure get back on schedule once school starts! Anyway, onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games... *sob* … Or Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing On Rainbows. :(**

**Annie's POV**

Eventually, we realized that we'd have to get back to Mags and Jase soon or else they would worry. I couldn't help but smile, though, as we walked back to where they were. I had just gotten my best friend back. At least I think I did...

We entered the room and saw Mags and Jase in a deep conversation, sitting on a booth with a table between them. I slowly walked to the table and sat down next to Jase.

"Hey... What are you talking about?" I asked. Jase looked up at me.

"We're talking about pink fluffy unicorns." he said with a serious face. I tried to hold in a laugh, but failed miserably and laughed loudly.

"Have you ever heard that old song called Pink Fluffy Unicorns Dancing On Rainbows?" I asked him, still laughing.

"No and I don't think I want to..." he said, smirking at me. I controlled my laughter finally and smirked back. "We weren't really talking about-"

"Really? I seriously thought you were _actually_ talking about that!" I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes at him. Some times people underestimate my brain and intelligence. Did he seriously think that I thought they were talking about unicorns?! I know what sarcasm is!

"Anyway... We were talking about how we should act when we get to the Capital." he said. "Like, our angles when we get there."

"Oh. So... what will mine be?" I asked Mags and Finnick who were sitting next to each other across the booth.

Finnick whispered something in Mags's ear and she nodded and whispered something back. They agreed on something and they turned to me. "You'll be mysterious and innocent." Finnick said.

"Why do I have to be-" I started, but Mags interrupted me.

"Annie, you already know why." she said, looking from me to Finnick. I looked at her and then looked at Finnick then my eyes widened.

"Oh! Right. Of course. You don't want me to-"

"And Jase, you'll have to be ruthless and sexy." Mags said, interrupting me again. What's up with them?! Do they not want Jase to know about Finnick or something? Does he want it to be kept as a secret to one of his tributes, while the other knows? What's the point of not telling him if they already decided – without my approval – that Jase was going to protect me in the Games?

Jase didn't seem to think much of what I was saying earlier, though, and thought mostly about his angle.

"What?! That's stupid! I'm nothing like that!" he said, getting up from the table. He started to pace that run his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, well I was nothing like that either, yet I had to have that as _my _angle. And now, still, I need to act like that whenever I'm around anyone but Mags because that's what they expect me to be like." Finnick snapped. "Now please sit down. You're bothering me and making me anxious with all that pacing."

Jase quickly obliged and sat down again. I turned to him.

"Come on, it's not that bad." I said, trying to comfort him.

"Says the girl that gets to be mysterious and innocent." he said, still angry. What a stupid thing to be angry about.

"Hey! You can be quiet, all right? Maybe I didn't want this either!" I said, raising my voice. "Why are you getting so upset over this stupid thing that we only have to act like for ten minutes – at the maximum?! You're just being stupid right now. Angles hardly even matter! All that they help with is sponsors. And sponsors won't help much when you come across a healthy tribute with weapons, so stop crying about how you're going to act for three minutes during the interview and start worrying about how you're going to win the games!"

Everyone just stared at me for a second. This isn't like me. What am I doing? Why am I yelling at him? We're both going to die! Jase is the only one that has a chance of getting back and he says that he'll die just to keep me alive! If he dies, I'll die for sure. I'm not very resourceful and I only know a couple of knots and how to swim. Unless the Arena is just water, I will never win this!

Then, I began to sob. Everything seemed to have just come to me right then. Everything about dying and what will happen to me if I live. Everything that Finnick told me before and why he was with the stupid, evil, ruthless Capitalites. Everything about Jase dying to keep me alive. Everything came to me right then. And I was overwhelmed to say the least.

Jase sighed and put an arm around me while Finnick ran to my side and hugged me and hushed me until I stopped crying. I felt terrible to think this, but Finnick probably helped comfort me more than Jase did. Which is probably bad considering Jase is my boyfriend and Finnick is my _ex-_boyfriend.

Once I calmed down, Finnick sat beside me instead of going back to his spot next to Mags, earning him a glare from Jase. I looked down at my lap and tried to hide a smile as the two boys who liked me sat beside me, both glaring daggers at each other. Mags seemed to be amused as well because she rolled her eyes playfully and shook her head.

"Okay, guys. Time to lose eye contact or someone will mentally destroy the other before the Games even start." Mags teased, making Finnick immediately turn his head. Jase, however, gave Finnick one last, long glare before turning his head to me.

"Sorry about how I acted. I was being stupid. You were right. We only have to act like that for 10 minutes, if that. I don't know why I was being like that." he said. I rolled my eyes, but still nodded my head.

"Okay, whatever. Just don't be stupid again, okay? Next time it might be even worse and I might slap you to get your mind back in check." I told him, smirking when I saw the look on his face. He looked very afraid. Haha.

"Well, what else to you have to tell us?" I asked them.

"Eat a lot, but not too much tonight because you will have to get used to having so much food. We need to get some meat on those bones and make you healthy before you go into those Games." Finnick said. "Believe me, if you eat too much, you will get sick. A bunch of tributes didn't listen to us when we said that, but you can guess what happened to them."

I nodded to show that I was paying attention. "Anything else?" I asked.

"Let the stylists do whatever they want. Don't try to stop them because it'll just make it worse. I'll make sure that they don't do anything to actually change you – like I'm sure they'll want to do. They have tried with almost all of the tributes I've had to work with." Finnick said. I nodded again. "Also, you have to get people to like you. I'm sure it won't be very hard for Annie, considering how genuinely friendly you are, and since we're going for sexy and ruthless for Jase, it won't be very hard for you either." he finished.

"Mags? Anything you want to add?" I asked the old woman, smiling at her.

"Annie, you can't make eye contact with the Careers. Jase is allowed to because of his angle, but we want you, Annie, to only acquaintance with a couple of the lesser districts. It'll help with the mysterious part of your angle." she said. I nodded, taking in every bit of information that I could.

"Jase, we want you to look like you hardly care for Annie. Act like she's just another one of the tributes that you hardly know or care about." Finnick said. When Jase looked like he was going to argue, Finnick stopped him. "Stop. You need to make it look like she's just another weakling that doesn't have any skill and no one to help her except for a few sponsors. Once you get into the Games, though, you can act like she's the most important thing in the universe. Okay?" Jase nodded. "Also, you need to group with the Careers and then convince them to bring Annie in as well."

We both nodded without trying to argue because we both realized now that that would be pointless.

"Well, that's enough for now. How does supper sound?" Mags asked.

Everyone agreed with her and we went over to the table that was waiting, full of food that the Avoxes must have brought us while in our conversation.

We eat discussing strategies before going to bed for a restless sleep.

**Would it be too much to ask for you to review? Please? :D Until next time!**


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